Ben Proud Becomes Third-Fastest Man Ever in 50 Free Semi-Finals; Best-Ever in Textile

Photo Courtesy: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports

Great Britain’s Ben Proud became the third-fastest performer in history in the men’s 50 free, swimming a time of 21.11 in the European Championships semi-finals. Only Cesar Cielo (20.91) and Fred Bousquet (20.94) have ever been quicker.

Proud moved past Caeleb Dressel’s winning time from last year’s World Championships (21.15) as the fastest ever in textile. He also broke Florent Manaudou’s championship record of 21.32 from 2014. And Proud might have more in the tank for the final, especially after a long finish which could have cost him a couple hundredths.

Italy’s Andrea Vergani qualified second behind Proud in 21.37, and Russia’s Vladimir Morozov qualified third in 21.44. The duo improved to third and fourth, respectively, in the world this year.

Greece’s Kristian Gkolomeev qualified fourth in 21.52, followed by Poland’s Pawel Juraszek (21.67), Finland’s Ari-Pekka Liukkonen (21.96) and the Netherlands’ Jesse Puts (22.02). There will be a swim-off for the last spot in the final between Lithuania’s Simonas Bilis and Ukraine’s Andriy Govorov, the 50 fly European champion. Both swam times of 22.04 in semis.

In the swim-off, Govorov got off to the better start, only for Bilis to battle back and touch him out, 21.70 to 21.74, and claim the finals spot.

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