The beginning of the fourth night of the European Championships belonged to the home country as Hungary snagged wins in the first three events of the evening. Boglarka Kapas got things rolling in the women’s 800 freestyle as she touched in 8:26.49. That time jumps her all the way up to fifth in the world this year just ahead of Australia’s Kylie Palmer. That comes up short of her personal best of 8:24.79 which is a Hungarian record from last year’s world championships. Second went to France’s Coralie Balmy in 8:27.79. She now sits 11th on the year. Third went to fellow Hungarian Eva Risztov in 8:27.87 to move her up to 12th.
Katinka Hosszu kept the gold medals in house as she took the win in the 200 IM in a time of 2:10.84. That keeps her sitting at number eight on the year as she comes up just short of the times posted by Ariana Kukors and Hannah Miley. Hosszu, the 2009 world champion in the 400 IM, just finished up a stellar collegiate career at USC and will now focus her attention to this summer’s Olympics as she stands a strong chance to bring home hardware in the medleys. Britain’s Sophie Allen took second in 2:11.49 to move up to ninth in the world. That betters her time from the British Trials of 2:11.71 which also stood as an English record. Third went to Evelyn Verraszto in 2:11.63 as she is now 11th in the world this year.
Daniel Gyurta kept the crowd on its feet as he laid down a swift 200 breaststroke in 2:08.60. That time is third in the world this year behind the Japanese duo of Kosuke Kitajima and Ryo Tateishi. That time is just two tenths off his winning time from last year’s world championships where he beat Kitajima by the same two tenth margin. He will look to again get back to the Olympic medal podium after winning silver as a 15 year old in Athens. Second went to Germany’s Marco Koch in 2:09.26 as he is now fourth in the world with that swim. That time betters his 2:09.46 from just two weeks ago at the German Olympic Trials. Third went to Panagiotis Samilidis of Greece in 2:09.72. That puts him in a three way tie for 7th in the world this year along with Americans Eric Shanteau and Clark Burckle.
Germany’s Jenny Mensing finally broke the Hungarian record hull with her win in the 100 backstroke in a time of 1:00.08. That comes up shy of the 59.85 she swam at the German Trials but still a strong swim heading into London for the 25 year old. Second went to Italy’s Arianna Barbieri in 1:00.54. While not quite as fast as she was in prelims where she went 1:00.26 to break the Italian record it was still enough to just out touch the Czech Republic’s Simona Baumrtova who was third in 1:00.57. That shattered her own national record by nearly a second. Ukraine’s Daryna Zavina was just off the podium in 1:00.59.
Hungary was back on top of the podium as Laszlo Cseh and Bence Biczo went 1-2 in the 200 fly. Cseh, who took second in this event four years ago in Beijing, touched the wall in 1:54.95 good enough for third in the world this year behind only Takeshi Matsuda and Nick D’Arcy. Biczo has continued his rise on the world stage since taking gold at the inaugural Youth Olympics back in 2010. He would clock in at 1:55.85 which was just off his semifinal time of 1:55.77. Greece continues its strong showing as Ioannis Drymonakos was third at 1:56.48. That puts him in a tie for 18th in the world this year and just a hundredth off his own Greek record. He also just out touched Dinko Jukic of Austria who touched in 1:56.53 to put him 21st in the world this year.
Israel’s Jonatan Kopelov claimed a win in the 50 backstroke with a time of 24.73. That is just shy of the Israeli record of 24.64 held by Guy Barnea but does put him second in the world this year. Italy’s Mirco Di Tora took second in 24.95 to move up to 7th this year while France’s Dorian Gandin, Barnea, and Hungary’s Richard Bohus shared the bronze with identical 25.14s. They are all now 11th on the year.
After watching her teammates, Alice Mizzau (1:58.67), Alice Nesti (1:59.50) and Diletta Carli (1:59.40), hang in the top three through the first three legs it was Italy’s Federica Pellegrini that blew past her competitors on the final leg as she went on to swim a stellar 1:55.33 to claim the win in 7:52.90. It also moves Italy into the medal mix this summer. Last year at the world champions three out of the same four swimmers in today’s finals failed to even reach the final finishing in a disappointing 13th. In that race Pellegrini swam nearly three second slower than she did today. Hungary’s team of Zsuzsanna Jakabos (1:58.43), Evelyn Verraszto (1:59.02), Agnes Mutina (1:58.52), and Katinka Hosszu (1:58.73) took second in 7:54.70. They held a two second lead going into the anchor legs but Hosszu just couldn’t match the speed of Pellegrini. Slovenia’s team of Sara Isakovic (1:59.06), Anja Klinar (1:59.23), Ursa Bezan (1:59.98), and Mojca Sagmeister (2:01.46) took third in 7:59.73.
Amaury Leveaux topped the semifinals of the men’s 100 free with a time of 48.52. That is just off the 48.48 he swam at the French Trials back in March. Former world champion Filippo Magnin was second in 48.84 while Marco Di Carli is also in the mix at 48.96. Just sneaking into the finals is defending Olympic gold medalist Alain Bernard who touched seventh in 49.27.
With world record holder Sarah Sjostrom opting out of the 100 fly it becomes a wide open final tomorrow with Norway’s Ingvild Snildal claiming the top time in the semifinals with a 58.07. Snildal will surely be racing for the late Alexander Dale Oen in tomorrow night’s final; her time also moves her to 13th this year. The second seed will be Martina Granstroem in 58.39 of Sweden. That time puts her 19th in the world.
Russian Irina Novikova posted the fastest 200 breaststroke time of the semis with a 2:26.39. That time moves her into the top 25 this year as she now sits 23rd. Taking second behind her was Sweden’s Joline Hoestman in 2:27.89 while Norway’s Sara Nordenstan was third in 2:27.91.