Laszlo Cseh claims Men’s 400m IM gold: Day two – 2011 European SC Swimming Championships
Laszlo Cseh of Hungary stunned the arena by claiming gold medal of Men’s 400m Individual Medley (IM) on day two of the 2011 European Short Course Swimming Championships in Szczecin, Poland on Friday, December 9.
The 26-year-old Cseh became top contender for gold medal in the first round, where he gained a lead of almost one second from his closest competitor by posting a time of 25.60 seconds.
He was trailed by his team-member, David Verraszto, who was 0.91 seconds slower from Cseh in the first round and clocked a time of 26.51 seconds.
Cseh continued his dominance in the subsequent round, where he extended his lead to 1.13 seconds by completing his initial 100 meters of the race in a time of 55.50 seconds. He was followed by Verraszto, who covered the equivalent distance in a time of 56.63 seconds.
The competition grew stronger in the subsequent rounds, where Verraszto tried to prove his dominance over Cseh, but the leading Hungarian swimmer devastated hopes of his opponent by completing his first half of the race in a time of 1 minute and 55.71 seconds.
Verraszto remained nearly two seconds away from his team-mate and ended his first half of the race with an effort of 1 minute and 57.43 seconds.
With his persistent efforts, Cseh maintained his position in the next two rounds, where he clocked a time of 3 minutes and 04.76 seconds for 300 meters. On the other hand, Verraszto successfully narrowed down the lead of his rival to 0.53 seconds and reported a time of 3 minutes and 05.29 seconds for the similar distance.
Nevertheless, Cseh’s astonishing efforts in the final 100 meters of the race played a vital role in his victory and he ended his swim in a time of 4 minutes and 01.68 seconds for gold medal.
He was trailed by Verraszto and Gal Nevo of Israel, who ended their swims in second and third place with timings of 4:03.03 and 4:04.49 minutes, respectively.
Cseh celebrated his victory with his fans after the session and expressed his desire of achieving the same at the upcoming 2012 London Olympic Games
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