DEBRECEN, Hungary, May 21. THE first evening of finals competition at the European Long Course Championships is underway.
FINALS
Men's 400 free
Germany's Paul Biedermann upended Hungary's Gergo Kis, 3:47.84 to 3:48.09, to win the first continental title on offer at the meet. Biedermann moved up to 12th in the world with the swim on the way to focusing on the 2012 London Olympics later this summer as he has already been pre-selected to the German team. Kis jumped to 15th in the world with his effort, while Italy's Samuel Pizzetti earned third in 3:48.66 for 21st in the world.
It took a superior final 50 meters for Biedermann to emerge with the crown. He clocked a 26.82 down the final stretch after turning third behind Pizzetti (first) and Kis (second) at the final wall, 3:20.44, 3:20.80, 3:21.02. Kis brought it home in 27.29, while Pizzetti turned in a 28.22 final split.
Great Britain's Robbie Renwick took fourth in 3:50.46, well off his sixth-ranked 3:46.73 from British Trials in March, while France's Sebastien Rouault earned fifth in 3:50.62. Rouault has been faster this year with a 3:49.15 from French Nationals in March.
Italy's Gabriele Detti (3:51.92), Russia's Evgeny Kulikov (3:52.57) and Hungary's Patrik Rakos (3:52.80) completed the championship field in the finale.
Women's 400 IM
Hungary's Katinka Hosszu, who already threw down the second-fastest time in the year with a 4:32.83 at the Indy Grand Prix in March, dominated the distance medley event this evening in front of a partisan crowd with a 4:33.76. Only Hannah Miley has been faster than her this year with a 4:32.67 from the British Trials back in March as well.
Hungary definitely enjoyed the final outcome of the event as the hometown fans had the chance to cheer on a 1-2 finish with Zsuzsanna Jakabos snaring second-place honors in 4:35.68. She vaulted to seventh in the world, giving Hungary two out of the top seven swimmers this year. Only China (Li Xuanxu, Ye Shiwen) and Australia (Stephanie Rice, Blair Evans) can boast of having two swimmers in the top 10 in the event.
Czech's Barbora Zavadova edged Sweden's Stina Gardell, 4:38.07 to 4:38.46, to earn a spot on the podium with a bronze-medal winning performances. Zavadova moved to 15th, while Gardell picked up 16th. Zavadova twice lowered the Czech record of 4:41.90 she set in 2009. First with a 4:40.85 during prelims before crushing it with her final time. Gardell also dropped Sweden's record of 4:41.83 she set in Ann Arbor last year. Her prelim time of 4:39.48 first blasted it, before she chopped another second off during finals.
Slovenia's Anja Klinar (4:42.00), Italy's Stefanie Pirozzi (4:43.72), Italy's Alessia Polieri (4:48.72) and France's Lara Grangeon (4:53.98) rounded out the championship heat.
Women's 400 free relay
Germany's Brittany Steffen (54.21), Silke Lippok (55.07), Lisa Vitting (55.33) and Daniela Schreiber (53.37) won the women's 400 free relay in 3:37.98. Steffen posted the top leadoff time in the finale with a strong 54.21. That swim was a bit off her season best of 53.65 from Germany earlier this month, which was good enough for fourth in the rankings.
Sweden's Ida Marko-Varga (55.66), Michelle Coleman (54.08), Sarah Sjostrom (54.04) and Gabriella Fagundez (54.62) finished second in 3:38.40, just half-a-second back of the winners. Italy's Alice Mizzau (55.14), Federica Pellegrini (54.29), Erica Buratto (55.50) and Erika Ferraioli (54.91) wound up third in 3:39.84.
Hungary (3:41.36), Greece (3:42.09), Norway (3:45.13), Belarus (3:45.67) and Iceland (3:47.39) completed the top eight swims.
Men's 400 free relay
France's Amaury Leveaux (48.59), Alain Bernard (48.29), Fred Bousquet (48.40) and Jeremy Stravius (48.27) earned the continental title with a 3:13.55. Leveaux led the way on the first leg with a 48.59 for France, but already has a 10th-ranked season best of 48.48 from France in March.
Italy's Andrea Rolla, Marco Orsi, Michele Santucci and Filippo Magnini finished second in 3:14.71 with Magnini dropping a strong 47.97 anchor leg — the fastest split of the finale. Russia's Vitaly Syrnikov, Oleg Tikhobaev, Nikita Konovalov and Viacheslav Andrusenko finished third in 3:15.13.
Belium (3:15.34), Sweden (3:17.12), Hungary (3:17.23), Germany (3:17.55) and Switzerland (3:20.00) also competed for the continental crown in the event. Belgium set a national record, breaking the 3:17.97 set back in 2009 at the Rome World Championships, while Hungary also dipped under the 3:18.01 set as its national mark back in 2010.
SEMIFINALS
With finals still to come later in the evening, Estonia's Triin Aljand topped the women's 50 fly semis in 26.20 to move into the top 10 in the world. Sweden's Sarah Sjostrom (26.22) and Poland's Anna Dowgiert (26.36) finished second and third.
Germany's Helge Meeuw paced the men's 100 back with a 53.80, moving him to 11th in the world rankings after clocking a now 17th-ranked season best of 53.93 at German Nationals earlier this month. Greece's Aristeidis Grigoriadis placed second in 53.89 to move to 15th in the world, while Israel's Yakov Yan Toumarkin picked up third in 54.26.
Slovenia's Damir Dugonjic took home the top time in semis with a 1:00.64 in the men's 100 breast. The swim just missed his 18th-ranked season best of 1:00.60 set in March. Italy's Mattia Pesce (1:00.72) and Fabio Scozzoli (1:00.90) will bracket Dugonjic during finals.
In another storyline in the men's 100 breast, Israel's Imri Ganiel slashed the national record in the event with a 1:00.96 in prelims. That swim blasted the 1:02.16 set by Daniel Malnik back in 2009. He later made finals with a fourth-place 1:01.01. Ganiel was put into a sort of a swimoff with fellow Israeli Jowan Qupty to determine Olympic qualification. Qupty, who prior to this meet had a stronger time needed a court injunction citing discrimination to provide him with a chance to make the Olympic team — setting up a swimoff between Ganiel and Qupty today. Whoever had the best time would wind up getting the medley relay spot for Israel, and that went to Ganiel today after Qupty's disqualification during prelims.
It took a 2:09 to earn the top two seeds in the women's 200 back finale as France's Alexianne Castel (2:09.03) and Germany's Jenny Mensing (2:09.49) made their way to the top of the semifinal rounds. Both have been faster this year as Mensing is ranked eighth in the world with a 2:08.30 from Germany earlier this month, and Castel clocked a ninth-ranked 2:08.57 in France in March. Ukraine's Daryna Zevina checked in with a third-seeded 2:10.17 to move to 23rd in the world.
Serbia's Milorad Cavic, who recently rejoined Michigan's Mike Bottom after years training together at The Race Club and at California, clipped Ukraine's Andriy Govorov, 23.41 to 23.43, for the men's 50 fly top seed. Cavic shot to seventh in the world with his swim, while Govorov earned eighth in the world. France's Amaury Leveaux (23.51) and Russia's Nikita Konovalov (23.55) finished third and fourth in semis. Leveaux moved to ninth, while Konovalov already stands sixth in the world with a season-best 23.26 from Russia in April.