Competition programme started in the morning with the preliminary heats. First medals were awarded after the evening 400m medley
400m individual medley, women
Zsuzsanna Jakabos from Hungary was the fastest in the first half of the distance, while the champion-to-be was only seventh, but the next 200 meters turned everything upside down. At the finish line, Viktoria Gunes after all outscored Anja Crevar and Sara Franceschi ahead by two hundredths of a second. Silver was shared by two athletes at once.
“I am very happy with the victory and time but now I am a bit tired,” Victoria noted after the finish.
“For me this result is a pleasant surprise. I’ve recently changed the coach and didn’t think that I would achieve success that fast. I am delighted,” Anja Crevar said.
- Viktoria Gunes, Turkey – 4:30.45
- Anja Crevar, Serbia and Sara Franceschi, Italy – 4:30.47
4 x 50m freestyle, women
The girls in the 4 x 50m relay race gave first gold for the championships host country – Russia. Rozaliya Nasretdinova, Arina Surkova, Maria Kameneva and Daria Klepikova were superior to the Dutch and Polish athletes. What’s interesting, Kira Toussaint, winner of 11 gold medals at the World Cup 2021, could not help the Dutch team.
“It was a hard-won victory, but I am elated at our gold!” Maria Kameneva exclaimed.
“It’s always good to start the championships with a medal. We have an excellent team, which I like to swim with,” said Kim Busch, a swimmer from the Netherlands.
- Russia – 1:34.92
- Netherlands – 1:35.47
- Poland – 1:35.94
On Wednesday, at the European Championships, women will compete for the medals at 50 and 800m freestyle and 100m breaststroke distances.
Press Office of the ANO “Directorate for Sports and Social Projects”