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Arno Kamminga Keeps Good Form with 2:09 200 Breast to Open Eindhoven Qualification Meet
Dutch breaststroke star Arno Kamminga has continued in his good vein of form, clocking in a prelims time of 2:09.31 to open the three-day Eindhoven Qualification Meet.
Kamminga, the reigning double Olympic silver medalist in men’s breaststroke, set the best time in the morning by more than four seconds in the 200 breast. He was slower in the evening but still coasted to victory by a clear two seconds in 2:10.89. Most of the change came in the front half – Kamminga went out in 29.09/1:01.79 in the morning, as opposed to 29.96/1:03.30 in the evening.
Kamminga set the third-fastest time in the world this year with a 2:08.22 last week in Heidelberg, Germany. Again at that meet, he was quicker in the morning.
Ivo Kroes finished second in 2:13.06.
The meet in Eindhoven, which runs from Friday through Sunday, serves as one of the meets to set times for selection to the 2022 World Championships in Budapest.
Kamminga was one of only three Dutch swimmers to hit the automatic qualification standard for that meet on Friday. Unsurprisingly, Kira Toussaint was another, winning the women’s 50 backstroke.
Toussaint got a push in the final from Tessa Giele, but Toussaint prevailed in 27.84, under the A cut of 28.22. She set the European record of 27.10 at this meet last year.
Giele settled for second in 28.01. She was also just on the wrong side of a touch in the women’s 100 butterfly earlier in the session. Maaike de Waard won that race in 58.66, Giele second in 58.87. Egyptian Olympian Farida Osman was third in 58.96.
Marrit Steenbergen also hit the mark in the 200 free with a time of 1:58.30, leading wire to wire. Silke Holkenborg gave her a push to finish in 1:58.70, just outside the 1:58.66 auto standard. Imani de Jong was third in 1:58.88.
A couple of men neared auto cuts. Czech swimmer Jan Sefl won the 100 fly in 52.67, with 51.96 required. Ramon Klenz was second in that race in 53.31, followed .02 later by Austrian Heiko Gigler.
Czech swimmers went 1-2 in the 50 back, led by Tomas Franta in 25.22, just .05 shy of the A standard. Jan Cejka was second in 25.49. The top Dutchman was Jesse Puts in third in 25.79.
Six weeks removed from setting a Dutch record in the 200 breast, Tes Schouten was upset Friday. She landed third in the event with a time of 2:28.84, well shy of the 2:26.13 she clocked in Amsterdam on Feb. 24. The win went to Bente Fischer in 2:26.51. Slovakian teen Nikoleta Tmikova was second, with Swim Ireland’s Niamh Coyne fourth.
Stan Pinjenburg won the 200 free in 1:48.06, exactly a second shy of the auto time. Henning Muhlleitner was second in 1:48.88.
The women’s 1,500 free went to Serena Stel in 17:07.53. Mahmoud Ahmed of Egypt dominated the men’s race in 15:17.87.
In the para events, Rogier Dorsman set a Dutch record in the S11 100 fly of 1:03.61. Thomas van Wanrooij went 59.22 in the S13 100 fly for a national record.
