Top five swims in Belgrade - 2011 European Long Course Junior Championships
The 2011 European Long Course Junior Championships ended with the dominating performances of several swimmers in Belgrade, Serbia, from July 7-10.
Maria Temnikova of Russia snared the gold medal in the Women’s 200m breast-stroke, while Panagiotis Samilidis of Greece captured the Men’s 50m breast-stroke title. Mie Nielsen of Denmark won the Women’s 50m back-stroke and Velimir Stjepanovic of Serbia sneaked
through the Men’s 100m freestyle meet. Maria Vilas Vidal of Spain snagged the Women’s 1500m freestyle crown.
Temnikova won the gold medal in the Women’s 200m breast-stroke after she completed the distance in 2 minutes and 26.29 seconds. The win also moved her to 18th place in the international rankings of the current year. Meanwhile, Irina Novikova wound
up second in 2 minutes and 26.46 seconds, whereas, Molly Renshaw of Great Britain earned third place honours in 2 minutes and 28.68 seconds.
Panagiotis Samilidis hit the finishing wall in 27.89 seconds to win the Men’s 50m breast-stroke crown. More importantly, she elevated to 18th place in the world rankings of the current year. Bastian Vollmer of Germany finished second in 28.52
seconds, whereas, Oleg Utekhin of Russia settled third in 28.54 seconds.
Mie Nielsen nabbed the Women’s 50m back-stroke in 28.81 seconds and Lauren Quigley of Great Britain finished second in 28.93 seconds. Katarzyna Gorniak of Poland rounded out the top three in a time of 29.23 seconds. In the semi final, Quigley posted the
fastest time of 28.76 seconds. Amazingly, she beat Emma Saunders’ previous record of 29.01 seconds, set back in 2010.
In the Men’s 100m freestyle meet, Serbian swimmer, Velimir Stjepanovic took home the golden crown with a sterling time of 49.56 seconds. After securing the stunning victory in the corresponding race, Stjepanovic was happy with his individual performance
in the competition.
On the other hand, Leuan Lloyd of Great Britain took home the Men’s 200m Individual Medley crown in 2 minutes and 01.57 seconds. Dan Wallace wound up second in 2 minutes and 02.41 seconds, whereas, Andreas Vazaios of Greece secured the third spot in a time
of 2 minutes and 02.51 seconds.
Spanish swimmer, Maria Vilas Vidal took home the Women’s 1500 freestyle crown in 16 minutes and 32.68 seconds. Giulia Gabbrielleschi of Italy wound up second in 16 minutes and 37.94 seconds, while Donata Kilijanska of Poland snared bronze in a time of 16
minutes and 38.90 seconds.
All junior swimmers of Serbia participated enthusiastically in the National Championships, as the event provided sufficient exposure to them for their upcoming events in competitive swimming.
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