BOLZANO, Italy, November 10. GERMANY’s Steffen Deibler and USA’s Natalie Coughlin both earned third titles at the Bolzano International Swim Meeting today in the fun-filled short course meter competition.
Germany’s Steffen Deibler collected his third title of the meet with a 51.37 in the men’s 100 fly. He’s been much faster with a third-ranked 49.38 from the Eindhoven stop of the FINA World Cup, but his time was more than enough to hold off Hungary’s Laszlo Cseh’s second-place 52.69. Italy’s Piero Codia wound up third in 52.86.
USA’s Natalie Coughlin also earned her third win of the two-day sprint extravaganza with a 24.61 in the 50 free. USA’s Madison Kennedy took second in 24.69, while Bahamas’ Ariana Vanderpool-Wallace touched third in 25.08 with all the top three swimmers based in the U.S.
Austria’s Birgit Koschischek took home the women’s 100 fly to start day two with a 59.39, while Italy’s Elena Di Liddo snared second in 59.69. Great Britain’s Georgia Barton rounded out the sub 1:00 times with a 59.99 for third.
Italy’s Elena Gemo secured a close victory in the women’s 50 back with a 28.09, while Germany’s Doris Eichhorn touched just behind with a second-place 28.13. Great Britain’s Rachel Lefley earned third-place honors in 28.44. USA’s Adam Mania followed suit with a 24.42 to win the men’s 50 back. Italy’s Niccolo Bonacchi finished second in 25.23, while Czech’s Thomas Plevko pocketed third place in 26.23.
USA’s Katie Meili hit the wall in 1:06.40 to win the women’s 100 breast, just a second outside the top 10 in the world. Italy’s Giulia De Ascentis placed second in 1:07.40, while Italy’s Lisa Fissneider touched third in 1:07.66. Great Britain’s Chris Steeples topped the men’s 100 breast in 59.77. Slovakia’s Tomas Klobucnik picked up second in 1:00.24, while Russia’s Stanislav Lakhtyukhov earned third in 1:00.33.
USA’s Cullen Jones snared the final title on offer with a 22.05 to win the men’s 50 free. Czech’s Thomas Plevko earned his second medal of the night with a second-place 22.14, while Deibler touched third in 22.23.
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