RIJEKA, Croatia, December 12. THE second night of finals at the European Short Course Championships held in Rijeka, Croatia featured a pair of world records along with a relay world best.
Italy's Alessia Filippi demolished the women's 800 free world record, while France's Amaury Leveaux claimed another world record, this time in the 100 free, after snagging the 50 free yesterday.
The Netherlands also recorded a world best in the women's 200 free relay, but the event is not recognized by FINA and is therefore not considered a world record.
Women's 800 free final
For the second night in a row, a world record called the European Short Course Championships to order. Italy's Alessia Filippi destroyed Kate Ziegler's global standard of 8:08.00 set last year with a stunning time of 8:04.53. France's Coralie Balmy also cleared the former mark by a wide margin with a second-place 8:05.32. Lotte Friis of Denmark rounded out the top three in 8:09.91.
Notably, Filippi's readout also crushed the European standard of 8:08.25 set by Great Britain's Rebecca Adlington at the 2008 World Short Course Championships in Manchester.
Here are the comparative splits of the world-record performances:
Ziegler: 28.72, 59.22 (30.50), 1:29.78 (30.56), 2:00.48 (30.70), 2:31.15 (30.67), 3:01.96 (30.81), 3:32.75 (30.79), 4:03.73 (30.98), 4:34.65 (30.92), 5:05.46 (30.81), 5:36.35 (30.89), 6:07.13 (30.78), 6:37.84 (30.71), 7:08.48 (30.64), 7:39.30 (30.82), 8:08.00 (28.70).
Filippi: 29.19, 59.82 (30.63), 1:30.61 (30.79), 2:01.30 (30.69), 2:31.95 (30.65), 3:02.55 (30.60), 3:33.08 (30.53), 4:03.36 (30.28), 4:33.80 (30.44), 5:04.40 (30.60), 5:34.77 (30.37), 6:05.02 (30.25), 6:35.19 (30.17), 7:05.51 (30.32), 7:35.53 (30.02), 8:04.53 (29.00)
Men's 50 back semis
Slovakia's Lubos Krizko topped the sprint back semis with a time of 23.15, while Spain's Aschwin Wildeboer Faber (23.22) and Russia's Stanislav Donets (23.46) finished second and third. Krizko's time cleared the European record of Thomas Rupprath (23.27) set in 2004.
Italy's Mirco Di Tora (23.76), Germany's Helge Meeuw (23.78), Rupprath (23.88), Switzerland's Flori Lang (24.02) and Great Britain's Marco Loughran (24.04) complete the top eight.
Women's 50 fly semis
The Netherlands' Hinkelien Schreuder earned the top seed in finals with a time of 25.67, while Denmark's Jeanette Ottesen finished second in 25.78. Estonia's Triin Aljand placed third in 25.79.
Sweden's Sarah Sjostrom (26.00), France's Diane Bui Duyet (26.09), France's Aurore Mongel (26.09), Israel's Amit Ivri (26.13) and Austria's Fabienne Nadarajah (26.15) grabbed the rest of the finale spots.
Men's 400 IM final
Austria's Dinko Jukic emerged from the distance medley with the continental title in 4:03.01. Hungary's Gergo Kis finished just behind in 4:03.81, while Poland's Lukasz Wojt to complete the podium with a 4:05.13 for third place. He touched out fourth-place finisher Hungary's David Verraszto (4:05.33).
Women's 200 breast final
Russia's Alena Alekseeva registered a time of 2:19.93 to win the event, while Austria's Mirna Jukic clinched second in 2:20.48. Switzerland's Patrizia Humplik captured third-place honors with a time of 2:12.68 as she touched out Russia's Olga Detenyuk (2:21.73).
Men's 100 breast final
Ukraine's Igor Borysik shot down the European record with a time of 57.33. That performance eclipsed compatriot Oleg Lisogor's continental standard of 57.67 set back in 2006. France's Hugues Duboscq placed second in 57.64, while Great Britain's James Gibson joined them under 58 with a third-place 57.91.
Women's 100 free final
The Netherlands' Marleen Veldhuis took a run at her European record of 51.91 set during prelims, but came up just short with a title-winning effort of 51.95. Denmark's Jeanette Ottesen captured second in 52.08, while The Netherlands' Ranomi Kromowidjojo snagged third with a time of 52.22.
Men's 100 free semis
Amaury Leveaux blistered the field with a time of 45.12 to take the top spot. The swim smashed countryman Alain Bernard's global standard of 45.69 set at the French Short Course National Championships in Angers five days ago.
Leveaux went out in 21.84 and came home in 23.28 compared to Bernard's swim of 21.71 out, 23.98 in.
France's Fabien Gilot (46.07), Italy's Filippo Magnini (46.37), Russia's Evgeny Lagunov (46.84), Russia's Andrey Grechin (46.93), Italy's Alessandro Calvi (47.02), Denmark's Jakob Andkjaer (47.70) and Germany's Steffen Deibler (47.74) will also swim in finals.
Women's 100 back final
Croatia's Sanja Jovanovic took a run at Natalie Coughlin's world record of 56.51, but settled for a victory in 56.87. Jovanovic, however, still eclipsed the European record of 57.15 set by Ukraine's Kate Zubkova at the 2008 World Short Course Championships.
Zubkova, who has been fighting off an illness this week, wound up with a swift second-place finish of 57.01 clearing her former lifetime best. France's Laure Manaudou rounded out the top three in 57.16.
Men's 100 fly final
Serbia's Milorad Cavic came up just short of Ian Crocker's world record of 49.07 in the event with a winning European-record time of 49.19. Cavic did, however, smash the continental standard of 49.74 set by Russia's Evgeny Korotyshkin during the Berlin stop of the 2008 World Cup. Spain's Rafael Munoz Perez finished a distant second in 49.74, while Russia's Nikolay Skvortsov placed third in 49.98.
Women's 100 IM semis
Three women cleared the minute barrier in the sprint medley semifinal round. Finland's Hanna-Maria Seppala earned the top seed in 59.62, while Hungary's Evelyn Verraszto (59.93) and Italy's Francesca Segat (59.94) placed second and third.
France's Sophie De Ronchi (1:00.13), Poland's Aleksandra Urbanzcyk (1:00.42), Sweden's Hanna Eriksson (1:00.45), The Netherlands' Femke Heemskerk (1:00.48) and Italy's Laura Letrari (1:00.76) snagged the rest of the transfer spots into finals.
Women's 50 fly final
The Netherlands' Hinkelien Schreuder picked up the European record in the sprint fly with a time of 25.21. Sweden's Therese Alshammar set the previous continental standard with a 25.31 during the Stockholm stop of the 2008 World Cup. Denmark's Jeanette Ottesen placed second in 25.54 by touching out France's Diane Bui Duyet (25.55).
Men's 50 back final
Russia's Stanislav Donets emerged from the sprint back with the crown in 23.22 by touching out Spain's Aschwin Wildeboer Faber, who took second in 23.28. Slovakia's Lubos Krizko wound up third in 23.47 after setting the European record with a 23.15 during semis.
Women's 200 free relay final
The Netherlands' foursome of Hinkelien Schreuder (23.80), Inge Dekker (23.89), Ranomi Kromowidjojo (23.29) and Marleen Veldhuis (22.82) completed the sprint free relay with a world-best time of 1:33.80. That effort cleared the country's previous best time of 1:34.82 set in 2007.
Sweden's Petra Granlund, Claire Hedenskog, Sarah Sjostrom and Lovisa Ericsson took a distant second in 1:38.00, while Germany's Dorothea Brandt, Petra Dallmann, Lisa Vitting and Daniela Schreiber placed third in 1:38.06.