Josif Miladinov added junior 100 fly gold to the silver he won at the continental showcase in May on the third night of finals at the European Junior Championships in Rome.
David Popovici continued the sort of form that has sent ripples across the swimming world as he went 1:45.26 in the 200 free semis, a day after he promised to get among the big fish in Tokyo with a 47.30 WJR over 100.
Photo Courtesy: Andrea Masini / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
Popovici’s time sent the 16-year-old inside Hwang Sunyoo‘s official world junior record of 1:45.92.
However, the Korean swam 1:44.96 at the national trials and that record has yet to be ratified by FINA.
Regardless, the time by the Romanian was a championship record and sliced a 0.66 chunk from Yannick Agnel‘s 1:46.58, two years before the Frenchman went on to win Olympic gold in London.
Miladinov Flying High; Final-50 Blast Steers Padar To Victory
Miladinov split 24.30/27.70 to stop the clock at 52.00 – 1.07 outside his Bulgarian record of 50.93 from Budapest – for his second title of the meet following his 50 fly gold.
It was an upgrade on the previous edition in 2019 where he won silver behind Andrei Minakov.
Diogo Matos Ribeiro of Portugal took silver in 52.54 with Britain’s Ed Mildred – second behind Popovici in the 100 free – coming from fifth at halfway to blast 27.80 down the second 50 for third in 52.72.
Miladinov said:
“I was lucky, I didn’t feel very well in the water. Training is tough but I couldn’t live outside the pool.
“The organisation of these Championships and this pool are perfect.”
Nikoletta Padar of Hungary overhauled long-time leader Tamryn van Selm with a final-50 blast of 29.67 to win the 200 free in 1:59.38.
Van Selm of Britain was second in 1:59.50 with Turkey’s Beril Boecekler adding bronze in 1:59.73 to the silver she won over 800 on Wednesday.
It was the stuff of legend for Padar who said:
“I can tell you that this is simply unbelievable! Winning a gold at my first Europeans… Like a fairytale!
“I just wanted to travel with the others for 150m then launch a big finish. It worked, I think I surprised everyone, including myself… Looking at the score-board, it was a real shock and a fantastic feeling!”
Justine Delmas dominated the 200 breaststroke to take the title in 2:25.54, 0.42 outside the French record of 2:25.12 on Thursday.
Victory was hers by almost 2.5secs ahead of Estonian 14-year-old Eneli Jefimova who overhauled Elena Bogomolova on the final 50 to take silver in 2:28.01 with the Russian clocking 2:28.24 for bronze.
Delmas said:
“I’m very happy with my result. It’s not my first international medal, though it’s always a pleasure to stand on the podium.”
Aleksei Tkachev won the 50 back in 25.14 ahead of Ksawery Masiuk (25.28) and Anastasios Kougkoulos (25.63).
Simone Cerasuolo added 50 breaststroke gold to the bronze he won over 100 in 27.29 ahead of Ukraine’s Rostyslav Kryzhanivs’kyy (27.75) whose countryman Volodymyr Lisovets shared bronze with Poland’s Bartosz Skora in 27.94.
Russia won the boys’ 4×200 relay to add to their sprint relay gold in 7:21.06.
Timo Sorgius swam the fastest leg of the field of 1:48.20 to make up a 0.23 deficit on Italy to propel Germany to second in 7:21.63 with the host nation third in 7:22.40.
Shanahan Eyeing Medley Double
Britain’s Katie Shanahan headed the 200IM in 2:14.06 as she looks to do the medley double.
Daria Klepikova led the 50 fly in 26.27 and Nina Stanisavljevic heads the 50 back in 28.54.
Luka Mladenovic leads the boys’ 200 breaststroke in 2:13.31.
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