April 7. POLAND’S Otylia Jedrzejczak, world record-holder and reigning world and Olympic champion in the 200-meter butterfly, made a triumphant return to competition last Saturday in a tri-meet between Poland, Ukraine and the Czech Republic.
The meet took place about six months after the tragic auto accident in which her brother Szymon was killed and she suffered severe head and neck injuries when she lost control of her car while passing, and slammed into a tree.
In the tri-meet, Jedrzejczak, 22, won the 200 fly in 2:15.73 – more than 10 seconds slower than her world record time. After the meet her coach, Pawel Slonimski told Warsaw’s TVN24: "The time of 2:15 is not a revelation but she has taken a first step and that's good. I have confidence in Otylia, in her work. I know that if she trains normally she will be, in a few months, the same Otylia from the Olympics or Montreal."