ESSEN, Germany, October 14. CLOSING out an amazing in-season short course meter meet, Kate Ziegler chopped nearly two seconds from her 800 free world record with a time of 8:08.00 at the Alex Athletics Jubilaums Challenge in Essen, Germany. She did so following a duel with Annika Lurz in the 200 free, which Ziegler claimed, 1:57.04 to 1:57.42. For more complete coverage of both swims, please click here for SwimmingWorldMagazine.com's initial report.
While Ziegler owned the day, plenty of other swims went down in Essen.
Jan Wolfgarten opened the day by winning the men's 400 freestyle in 3:48.68, with Thomas Lurz (3:49.92) and Armin Gress (3:58.42) rounding out the top three. Ziegler followed with the 200 free triumph over Annika Lurz, while Meike Freitag took third in 1:59.06. Helge Meeuw then cruised to victory in the 200 back with a time of 2:01.00, while Marco Di Carli (2:06.46) and Manuel Stiem (2:07.30) finished second and third, respectively.
Meanwhile, in the women's 50 fly, Lena Celina Hiller topped all comers with a time of 28.31, ahead of Lena Kalla's 28.33 and Kerstin Lange's 28.87. On the men's side, German record holder Thomas Rupprath clocked in at 23.73 to win his 50 fly, while Gabriel Mangabeira (24.47) and Lars Conrad (24.58) closed out the top three.
In the women's 400 IM, Cathleen Rund powered by the field with a time of 4:49.41, while Jessica Steiger (4:55.00) and Lisa Pohl (4:59.53) placed second and third. Jenny Mensing then captured the women's 200 back in 2:09.93, with Christin Zenner (2:14.85) and Franzisca Scheiner (2:15.60) completing the podium. Meeuw scored a daily double with another win, this time in the men's 200 back in 1:57.89, while Di Carli (2:03.05) and Steffen Driesen (2:03.60) took second and third.
Kalla improved her 50 fly silver into a 100 fly gold with a time of 1:03.37 when she touched out Jeanette Luster (1:03.66). Alina Polplatz wound up third in 1:04.72. Rupprath then paired his 50 fly gold with the same color in the 100 after hitting the wall in 52.66. Mangabeira took second behind him in 53.66, while Jan Konopka placed third in 56.50.
As already reported, Ziegler turned in an 8:08-flat in the 800 free for the world record. However, Sabrina Marzahn (8:52.20) and Kristina Wissmann (9:07.08) picked up second and third, respectively.
In the women's 50 back, Mensing matched her 200 win with a time of 29.37 in the sprint back. Zenner took second in 29.44, while Xenia Madziarska finished third in 30.17. For the men, Rupprath tripled on the day in an event in which he owns the world record. He finished with a time of 24.22, well off his global standard of 23.27, but good enough to beat Meeuw's 24.64. Driesen touched third in 26.01.
In the women's 200 breast, Carolin Rademacher held off Kerstin Vogel, 2:32.11 to 2:32.47, while Caroline Ruhnau placed third in 2:35.91. For the men, Troy Arnicke won in 2:19.23, with Julian Jungbluth (2:22.19) and Eduard Alboni (2:23.31) finishing immediately behind.
In the 100 freestyle, Annika Lurz suffered another head-to-head defeat as Freitag beat her, 54.36 to 55.87. Lisa Vitting took third in 56.22. In another close race, Schreiber beat Conrad, 49.27 to 49.74, for the men's 100 free title, while Meeuw rounded out the top three in 50.74.
Click here to view event results PDF file.