By James Sutherland on SwimSwam
2021 LEN EUROPEAN AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Swimming: Monday, May 17th – Sunday, May 23rd, 2021
- Budapest, Hungary
- Prelims at 10:00 am local/Finals at 6:00 pm local
- Event Site
- Entry List
- Live Results
- Live Stream
Day 5 finals from the 2021 European Championships will feature six finals and four sets of semi-finals, led off by the women’s 1500 freestyle.
Italian Simona Quadarella is the odds-on favorite to win the women’s mile and defend her title as the reigning world champion, having already won gold in the 800 free.
Kathleen Dawson and Kira Toussaint are set up for an epic battle in the women’s 100 backstroke, as Toussaint tied the European Championship Record of 58.73 in the first semi-final on Wednesday evening before Dawson lowered it in 58.44 from the second heat.
Andrii Govorov has a shot to three-peat in the men’s 50 fly, Great Britain appears to be in line for a potential 1-2 in the women’s 200 breaststroke with Molly Renshaw and Abbie Wood, and the men’s 200 free promises to be an exciting battle with no shortage of gold medal contenders.
Among those in the hunt in the men’s 200 free will be Brits Duncan Scott and Tom Dean, who have both been 1:44 this year, top seed and 400 free winner Martin Malyutin, and another swimmer who has dipped into the 1:44s before, Danas Rapsys. In 2018, Scott won the gold medal with Rapsys earning silver.
Malyutin led off Russia’s victorious 800 free relay earlier in the meet in a PB of 1:45.15, making him the man to beat tonight.
Federica Pellegrini led the Italian women to the top seed this morning in the 800 free relay, though the defending champion Brits are the likely favorites with a strong lineup consisting of Lucy Hope, Tamryn Van Selm, Holly Hibbott and Freya Anderson. The coaches opted to leave off Wood, who swam a best time of 1:57.48 in April, as she already has a daunting double for the session with the 200 IM semis shortly after that 200 breast final.
The swim of this morning’s prelim session came in the men’s 200 back, where Luke Greenbank threw down a new British Record of 1:54.67 to annihilate his previous mark of 1:55.34 and rank third in the world this season. Greenbank heads into the semi-finals ranked first, followed by defending champion and European Record holder Evgeny Rylov (1:55.74).
Women’s 1500 Free Final
- European Record: 15:38.88, Lotte Friis (DEN), 2013
- European Championship Record: 15:50.52, Boglarka Kapas (HUN), 2016
- FINA ‘A’ Cut: 16:32.04
MEN’S 50 FLY FINAL
- European Record: 22.27, Andrii Govorov (UKR), 2018 – WR
- European Championship Record: 22.48, Andrii Govorov (UKR), 2018
WOMEN’S 100 BACK FINAL
- European Record: 58.12, Gemma Spofforth (GBR), 2009
- European Championship Record: 58.44, Kathleen Dawson (GBR), 2021
- FINA ‘A’ Cut: 1:00.25
Men’s 200 Back Semi-Finals
- European Record: 1:53.23, Evgeny Rylov (RUS), 2021
- European Championship Record: 1:53.36, Evgeny Rylov (RUS), 2018
- FINA ‘A’ Cut: 1:57.50
Women’s 100 Free Semi-Finals
- European Record: 51.71, Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), 2017
- European Championship Record: 52.67, Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), 2014
- FINA ‘A’ Cut: 54.38
Men’s 50 Breast Semi-Finals
- European Record: 25.95, Adam Peaty (GBR), 2017
- European Championship Record: 26.09, Adam Peaty (GBR), 2018
WOMEN’S 200 BREAST FINAL
- European Record: 2:19.11, Rikke Moeller Pedersen (DEN), 2013 – WR
- European Championship Record: 2:19.84, Rikke Moeller Pedersen (DEN), 2014
- FINA ‘A’ Cut: 2:25.52
MEN’S 200 FREE FINAL
- European Record: 1:42.00, Paul Biedermann (GER), 2009 – WR
- European Championship Record: 1:44.89, Pieter van den Hoogenband (NED), 2002
- FINA ‘A’ Cut: 1:47.02
Women’s 200 IM Semi-Finals
- European Record: 2:06.12, Katinka Hosszu (HUN), 2015
- European Championship Record: 2:07.30, Katinka Hosszu (HUN), 2016
- FINA ‘A’ Cut: 2:12.56
Women’s 4×200 Free Relay Final
- European Record: 7:45.51, Great Britain, 2009
- European Championship Record: 7:50.53, Italy, 2014
Read the full story on SwimSwam: 2021 European Championships: Day 5 Finals Live Recap