Kliment Kolesnikov of Russia continued to show his backstroke prowess on the fourth day of competition at the 2018 European Junior Championships, adding victories in the 50 and 200 to his name.
Ajna Kesely earned her first individual silver of the meet in the 200 free, while Freya Anderson and Akos Kalmar continued to reign over the sprint and distance events respectively.
2018 European Junior Championships, Day 4 Finals – Results
Women’s 100 Back Semi-Final
Daria Vaskina and Anastasia Avdeeva, the winners of the 50 and 200 back respectively, topped the qualifying list for the women’s 100 back semi-finals. Avdeeva delivered the fastest splits of the field, opening the race with the only sub-30 second split at a 29.70, and clocking a 1:00.68 for the first place seed.
Vaskina turned in a 1:01.53 to pick up the second place seed.
Italy’s Giulia D’Innocenzo grabbed the third place seed with a time of 1:01.75.
Men’s 100 Fly Semi-Final
Russia’s Andrei Minakov led a trio of men under the 53-second mark in semi-finals of the men’s 100 fly. Minakov, the victor in the men’s 50 fly, opened the race with a dynamic 24.30 split and came home in a 27.94, qualifying with a time of 52.24.
Tomoe Zenimoto Hvas of Norway picked up the second place seed with a 52.84, while 200 fly fictor Kristof Milak posted a 52.97 for the third place seed.
Women’s 200 IM Semi-Final
Anastasia Gorbenko of Israel utilized the breaststroke leg of the 200 IM to separate herself from the competition, posting the fastest split of the field at a 38.15. Gorbenko qualified first overall with a 2:13.88 for tomorrow’s finals.
Russia’s Anastasiia Sorokina posted a 2:15.90 to qualify second, followed closely by teammate Aleksandra Denisenko’s 2:15.94.
Men’s 200 Free Semi-Final
Great Britain’s Thomas Dean built upon a strong backhalf of the 200 free to post the fastest time of the evening at a 1:47.64. He returns tomorrow as the top seed, followed by Hungary’s Kristof Milak and his time of 1:48.19. Milak’s split for the final 50 meters was the fastest in the semi-final feed at a 26.92.
Mikhail Bocharnikov of Russia qualified third overall with a 1:48.50.
Women’s 100 Breast Semi-Final
Anastasia Makarova of Russia has set herself up for to add another breaststroke title to her name, claiming the top seed in the 100 with a 1:08.46. Yesterday, Makarova showcased her end of race strength as she surged to victory in the final 50 meters.
Ireland’s Niamh Coyne and Lithuania’s Kotryna Teterevkova qualified close behind with times of 1:08.56 and 1:08.59 respectively, squaring up for a heated battle for the title.
Men’s 200 Back
Kliment Kolesnikov of Russia defended his championship title in the men’s 200 back final, clocking a 1:55.83 at the finish. His time also lowered Polish Olympian Radoslaw Kawecki’s 2009 championship record of 1:56.65.
Romania’s Daniel-Cristian Martin posted a second place finish of 1:58.37, while Switzerland’s Roman Mityukov took third with a 1:59.23.
Women’s 200 Free
It was a tight battle for gold in the women’s 200 free final. Hungary’s Ajna Kesely jumped to an early lead with a sizzling opening split of 27.89 and continued to hold the lead throughout the first 150 meters of the race, but Germany’s Isabel Marie Gose had some closing speed tucked away.
Gose turned .49 seconds behind Kesely going into the final 50 meters and cranked up the speed. She thundered ahead of Kesely to finish first with a 1:58.17 and a final 50 split of 29.51. Kesely settled for her first individual silver with a time of 1:58.27, splitting a 30.10 in the final 50 meters.
Russia’s Polina Nevmovenko, who turned second at the 100 meter mark, finished third with a time of 1:59.82.
They were the only three swimmers beneath the two minute mark.
Men’s 100 Breast Semi-Final
Italy’s Alessandro Fusco powered to a first place seed time of 1:01.92 in the men’s 100 breast, setting himself up for a chance to continue Italy’s winning streak in the 100 breast.
Vladislav Gerasimenko of Russia delivered a 1:02.28 to qualify second overall, followed by Caspar James Corbeau of the Netherlands and his time of 1:02.35.
Women’s 100 Fly
The top two athletes in the women’s 100 fly final, Emily Large and Anastasiya Shkurdai, delivered yin and yang strengths as one posted the fastest opening 50 split, while the other posted the fastest closing 50 split of the race. In the end, the two competitors posted matching times of 59.37.
Shkurdai, representing Belarus, opened the race with a 27.08 split, which was the fastest split in the field by .46 seconds. But Large, representing Great Britain, charged towards the finish with a dominating final 50 split of 31.45 and the two finished in a tie for gold.
Petra Barocsai of Hungary posted the only other sub-one minute swim at a 59.95 to win the bronze.
Men’s 800 Free
Hungary’s Akos Kalmar solidified his name as the distance king of the meet, adding a victory in the 800 free to his name. Kalmar earned the gold medal with a top showing of 7:55.41, nearing the 2014 championship record of 7:54.81.
France’s Paul Beaugrand turned in a 7:56.23 for second place overall, while Italy’s Johannes Calloni was third with a close 7:56.50.
Women’s 50 Free
Freya Anderson of Great Britain cemented her title as the sprint queen of the meet with a top showing in the women’s 50 free. Anderson dashed to a final time of 25.35 for the gold.
Picking up the silver was Russia’s Elizaveta Klevanovich, who stopped the clock at a time of 25.43.
Poland’s Kornelia Fiedkiewicz finished third with a time of 25.53.
Men’s 50 Back
Kliment Kolesnikov concluded the evening in record-breaking fashion, lowering the championship record to a 24.52 in the 50 back. That time neared his European Junior record of 24.46, posted in April at the Russian National Championships and concluded his sweep of the backstroke events.
Germany’s Michael Schaeffner grabbed the silver medal with a final time of 25.23, while Switzerland’s Thierry Frederic Bollin posted a 25.35 for third.
Rusia, fictor))) Who does a proofreading for the article???