By Ben Dornan on SwimSwam
2021 LEN EUROPEAN AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Swimming: Monday, May 17th – Sunday, May 23rd
- Budapest, Hungary
- Prelims at 10:00 am local/Finals at 6:00 pm local
- Event Site
- Entry List
- Live Stream
It’s sprint central in Budapest during day 6 prelims with the men’s 50 free, women’s 50 fly, men’s 100 fly, women’s 50 breast, and mixed 4×100 free relay set to take place, along with the women’s 200 backstroke.
Defending champ Ben Proud will swim his first individual race of the meet as he leads the field in the 50 freestyle with a 21.42 which he swam just last month. He’ll face stiff competition in the event, however, from the likes of Kristian Gkolomeev and Olympic champion Florent Manaudou.
In the women’s 50 butterfly, the absence of world record holder Sarah Sjostrom leaves the field wide open for someone to rise to the gold medal. France’s Melanie Henique and Dutch sprinter Ranomi Kromowidjojo are actually tied for first seed with a time of 25.24 while Emilie Beckmann of Denmark and Marie Wattel of France follow with a 25.50 each.
Margherita Panziera will lead the way into the 200 backstroke and holds a sizeable lead over the field. Panziera is entered with a 2:05.56 which is nearly 3 seconds quicker than second seed Kata Burian of Hungary who will go in with a 2:08.20.
WOMEN’S 200 BACKSTROKE – PRELIMS
- European Record: 2:04.94 – Anastasia Fesikova (RUS) 2009
- European Championships Record: 2:06.18 – Margherita Panziera (ITA) 2018
- 2018 European Champion: Margherita Panziera (ITA) – 2:06.18
Reka Nyiradi of Hungary swam a 2:10.44 to take heat 2 of the women’s 200 backstroke, improving upon her 2:11.16 entry time which she swam earlier this year. Aviv Barzelav from Israel posted a 2:11.60 for second place in the heat which gets her within a second of Anastasia Gorbenko‘s national record. Cassie Wild followed for third place with a 2:12.04.
In a Hungarian-dominated 3rd heat, Katalin Burian and Eszter Szabo Feltothy swiftly knocked Nyiradi from advancing to the next round, both beating her prelim swim. Burian was a 2:09.54 to slightly trail her entry time of 2:08.20 while Szabo Feltoyhy was a 2:09.72.
It was top seed and defending champion in the event Margherita Panziera who swam the quickest time of the prelims with a 2:08.52 from heat 4. Panziera was entered with a 2:05.56 which is an Italian record that she set recently at the 2021 Italian Championships. Panziera will be gunning for that time over the next 2 rounds of the race as she conducts the final stages of 200 backstroke prep for Tokyo this summer.
Lena Grabowski of Austria got in with a 2:09.12 which gives her the second-best time of the morning while Africa Sanz Zamorano followed in a 2:11.98.
MEN’S 50 FREESTYLE – PRELIMS
- European Record: 20.94 – Frederick Bousquet (FRA) 2009
- European Championships Record: 21.11 – Ben Proud (GBR) 2018
- 2018 European Champion: Ben Proud (GBR) – 21.11
The first few sub-23 swims of the session came during heat 3 with Serbia’s Nikola Acin leading the way in a 22.51, followed by Polish swimmer Jan Holub‘s 22.80, S. De Meulemeester‘s 22.91 for Germany, and Elias Persson‘s 22.97 for Sweden. With another 5 heats to go, it’s unlikely those swims will be enough to advance.
Acin lost his lead in the next heat as Norway’s Nicholas Lia was the fastest there with a 22.37, while Romanian David Popovici hit a 22.43 and Jasper Aerents a 22.80. Following them, Estonia’s Daniel Zaitsev won heat 5 of the 50 free with a 22.32 which gets him within striking distance of the national record in the event of 21.98 from Norbert Trandafir in 2013.
Florent Manaudou was sure to bring the field under 22 seconds with his heat 6-winning swim of 21.86, half a second slower than his Olympic gold medal swim of 21.34 from London 2012. That will easily be enough to move Manaudou on to the next round ad he’ll be joined by Finland’s Ari-Pekka Liukkonen, slightly over his own PB and national record of 21.58 from 2020. Italy’s Leonardo Deplano nearly crack 22 as well in heat 6 with a 22.10 for third place.
Thom de Boer of the Netherlands managed to overtake Manaudou’s lead in heat 7, hitting a 21.76 to give him first place overall so far. That was just 0.02 seconds off his own Dutch record from December 2020. Kristian Gkolomeev followed with a 21.98 while Poland’s Konrad Czerniak notched a 22.00. In the final heat of the prelims, top seed and defending champ Ben Proud was a 21.93 to get himself in the mix while Alessandro Miressi was a 21.97 and Lorenze Zazzeri a 22.01, both for Italy which will knock Deplano out of the semi-final.
WOMEN’S 50 BUTTERFLY – PRELIMS
- European Record: 24.43 – Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) 2014
- European Championships Record: 24.87 – Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) 2014
- 2018 European Champion: Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) – 25.16
Denmark’s Jeanette Ottesen and Emilie Beckmann took control of the women’s 50 butterfly prelims, each getting under 26 seconds during heat 4 with times of 25.91 and 25.96, respectively. Ottesen holds the current national record in the event at a 25.24 from back in 2013. Maaike de Waard wasn’t far off, hitting a 26.11 for third place in the heat.
During the next heat, Ranomi Kromowidjojo decided to take the lead for herself and also dipped under 26 with a 25.88. Kromowidjojo actually holds an identical national record to Ottesen with a 25.24 Dutch record which she set earlier this year. Arina Surkova from Russia tied Beckmann’s swim of 21.96 for second place in heat 5, nearing her 25.62 Russian record, while the Swedish duo of Sara Junevik and Louise Hansson were 3rd and 4th in a 25.99 and 26.20.
Finishing things off, Melanie Henique powered her way to a 25.30 which gives her a substantial lead over the field heading into the semi-finals. Henique retains her top seed and is only 0.06 seconds off her French record in the 50 fly of 25.24. Henique was the only sub-26 swim in the final heat as Elena di Liddo of Italy was second in a 26.28 and Marie Wattel a 26.35 or third.
MEN’S 100 BUTTERFLY – PRELIMS
- European Record: 49.95 – Milorad Cavic (SRB) 2009
- European Championships Record: 50.64 – Piero Codia (ITA) 2018
- 2018 European Champion: Piero Codia (ITA) – 50.64
Over the course of the first 4 heats, Antani Ivanov of Bulgaria declared a commanding lead in the men’s 100 fly with the only sub-52 swim of 51.93. That’s a solid improvement from his entry time of 52.96 and will likely bump him far up from his 43rd entry rank. Simon Bucher and Marcin Cieslak followed up Ivanov’s swim in heat 4 with respective swims of 52.25 and 52.58 which will likely be right on the cusp of the top 16 who will advance to semis.
Hungary’s Szebasztian Szabo managed to overtake the lead from heat 5 of the 100 fly, hitting a 51.66 which is actually a little slower than his 51.28 entry time. Federico Burdisso of Italy and Nyls Korstanje of the Netherlands were right behind Szabo, both hitting a 51.83 for second place in the heat while Poland’s