PESCARA, Italy, June 30. SPAIN's Aschwin Wildeboer Faber captured the European record in the men's 100 back during the fourth night of swimming at the Mediterranean Games held in Italy.
Wildeboer Faber lowered his European standard in the men's 100 back with a swift time of 52.87. The performance wiped out the 52.93 he set back in April 2009 and moved him ever so closer to Aaron Peirsol's world record of 52.54. Greece's Aristeidis Grigoriadis finished second in 54.00 to knock time off his national mark of 54.27 set in March 2008. Italy's Mirco Di Tora completed the top three in 54.45.
Tunisia produced a 1-2 outcome in the men's 200 free with Ous Mellouli leading the way with a 1:46.44. Compatriot Ahmed Mathlouthi finished second in 1:47.00, while Italy's Marco Belotti claimed third in 1:47.29.
Spain's Patricia Castro Ortega came up just short of her national record in the women's 200 free with a winning time of 1:58.91. She owns the Spanish record with a 1:58.33 from April 2009 to her credit. France's Ophelie-Cyrielle Etienne took second in 1:59.11, while Italy's Alice Carpanese snagged third in 2:00.67.
Croatia's Mario Todorovic edged the Croatian record in the men's 50 fly with a top time of 23.61 in the sprint event. Todorovic's effort clipped Duje Draganja's 2006 standard of 23.62. Serbia's Ivan Lendjer claimed second in 23.65, while Italy's Mattia Nalesso took third in 23.81.
France's Melanie Henique followed in the women's 50 fly with a 26.37 for the win. Italy's Cristina Maccagnola touched second in 26.65 with Spain's Angela San Juan Cisneros finishing third in 26.80 just off her national record of 26.78 set in 2007.
France's Alexianne Castel captured the women's 100 back in 1:02.13, while Spain's Duane Da Rocha Marce finished second in 1:02.30. Greece's Aspasia Petradaki took third in 1:02.48 to down the Greek mark previously held by Eirini Karastergiou with a 1:03.26 back in 2004.
In the women's 800 free, Italy's Alessia Filippi turned in an 8:20.78 to claim the title. The effort came up a bit short of her national record time of 8:20.23 set in 2008. Slovenia's Nina Cesar finished second in 8:31.26, which crushed her country's national record of 8:36.92 set by Nika Karlina Petric last summer. France's Ophelie-Cyrielle Etienne completed the podium with a third-place 8:32.38.