Records tumbled, but not as many as anticipated, in the final competition for the controversial high-tech swimsuits at the European short course swimming championships on Thursday.
The Russian men’s team twice broke the 4x50m medley world record, setting a new mark of 1 minute, 31.80 seconds after having lowered it to 1:32.08 in the heats earlier in the day.
And Hungary’s Evelyn Verraszto beat her own world record, clocking 2 minutes, 04.64 seconds in the 200m medley to lower her old time of 2:06.01 set on Nov. 6 in Moscow.
PHOTO: EPA
There was no world record joy for Germany’s double world long course champion Paul Biedermann, who had been bidding to set a new record in the 400m freestyle. The German nonetheless achieved the second-best time of his career (3:34.55), ahead of Russia’s Nikita Lobintsev (3:35.75) and Dane Mads Glaesner (3:36.82).
“I didn’t give it everything I had in this race,” Biedermann said. “I knew that I couldn’t beat the world record this time but I managed to defend my title and I achieved my mission.”
Meanwhile, France’s Frederick Bousquet, a three-time world long course medalist, claimed his first international title over his favorite distance, the 50m freestyle, but also without a record.
PHOTO: AFP
The French swimmer clocked 20.53 to finish ahead of Croat Duje Draganja (20.70) and Russian Sergey Fesikov (20.84) but missed out on breaking the world record over the distance which he holds in the long course (20.94).
“I couldn’t have hoped for better than to do my best time and to win,” Bousquet said. “I had said that if the world record was in my grasp I’d go for it. It wasn’t really the case.”
Like Bousquet, most of the swimmers were wearing the polyurethane suits that will be banned by swimming’s world governing body FINA on January 1.
Credited with helping set 238 world records since February last year, the era of the suit will come to a close in Istanbul, where they were first seen in 1999 during the same competition.
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