Belgrade 2023 Hungary claim three golds on dramatic second day of European Junior Swimming Championships

 

Nikolett Padar helped Hungary soar to the top of the medal table on a dramatic second day of racing at the LEN European Junior Swimming Championships in Serbia.

The 17-year-old opened the evening with her third-successive victory in the 200m freestyle event (one minutes 57.59 seconds), beating silver medallist and countrywoman Lilla Abraham (1:59.29), with Fleur Verdonck of Belgium (1:59.30) third.

Padar then returned later in the session to help her nation’s mixed 4x100m free relay team claim another title.

The line-up of Boldizsar Magda, Matyas Harsanyi, Dora Molnar and Padar finished in 3:29.75, to head off the challenge of Italy (3:30.66) and France (3:30.85).

Lora Komoroczy added to the Hungarian honours list with victory in the 50m backstroke (28.08 secs), ahead of Great Britain’s Blythe Kinsman (28.41) and Daria-Mariuca Silisteanu (28.46) of Romania.

In addition to Padar, two other stand-out performers who defended European Junior Swimming crowns from the 2022 edition in Romania were distance freestyler Merve Tuncel of Turkiye and Estonian breaststroke specialist Eneli Jefimova.

Tuncel was pushed hard by British senior champion Amelie Blocksidge, who is four years her junior – but ultimately the Turkish swimmer’s experience told and she claimed 1500m freestyle gold in 16:18.53.

Blocksidge was second (16:20.19), with Germany’s Marian Ploeger  (16:23.69) third.

Jefimova was the overwhelming favourite in the women’s 50m breaststroke final and lived up to that billing with a dominant display, winning in 30.33 secs, ahead of Karolina Piechowicz of Poland (31.18) and Sweden’s Olivia Klint Ipsa (31.23).

Jonas Gaur gave the excitable Danish fans reason to cheer with an impressive victory in the men’s 50m breaststroke. He finished in 27.57 secs, with home favourite Uros Zivanovic of Serbia (28.08) claiming silver ahead of Germany’s bronze medallist Emilian Hollank (28.14).

Another standout race was the men’s 200m freestyle final which saw Petar Mitsin claim Bulgaria a first gold medal of Belgrade 2023.

He finished in 1:46.50, more than a second ahead of Italian Alessandro Ragaini (1:47.76), with Jarno Baeschnitt of Germany (1:49.10) completing the podium.

Another to deliver a landmark performance was Miroslav Knedla of Czech Republic, who won the men’s 50m backstroke in 24.88 seconds, ahead of Ukrainian Oleksandr Zheltyakov (25.10) and Great Britain’s Matthew Ward (25.16).

The final individual event of day two saw eight men go head-to-head in one of the toughest races in the swimming programme – the 200m butterfly.

Andrea Camozzi of Italy qualified quickest and delivered a supreme display to finish in 1:58.59 and claim his first individual European junior title.

Vlad-Stefan Mihalache of Romania (1:58.84) was second, with Slovakian Samuel Kostal (1:59.30) third.

 

RESULTS AND REACTION:

Women’s 200m freestyle:

Gold – Nikolett Padar (1:57.59) Hungary

Silver – Lilla Abraham (1:59.29) Hungary

Bronze – Fleur Verdonck (1:59.30) Belgium

“This is my personal best and I'm happy about it, but this is still not an Olympic Qualification Time,” said Nikolett Padar.“Before my swim I was too excited, that was the problem. I was too hot, I was sweating before I entered to the swimming pool. My first 100m was too slow, but on the second I did my best. I will try to swim an Olympic qualification time, next time.”

 

Men’s 200m freestyle

Gold – Petar Mitsin (1:46.50) Bulgaria

Silver – Alessandro Ragaini (1:47.76) Italy

Bronze – Jarno Baeschnitt (1:49.10) Germany

“I am so happy with my swim and the time I made,” Petar Mitsin said. “I have been waiting for this moment for so long and I’m so proud to win this for my country. I think it was great to compete with these big countries as they’re known for their strength and I’m inspired by them. I am so enjoying my time here in Serbia, I like the atmosphere and to compete with everybody.”

 

Women’s 50m backstroke

Gold - Lora Komoroczy (28.08) Hungary

Silver - Blythe Kinsman (28.41) GB

Bronze - Daria-Mariuca Silisteanu (28.46) Romania

“It was really great and I feel really good, I’m so happy with the time and winning the race,” said Lora Komoroczy. “I hope that one day I will swim a little quicker but it’s looking really good for my 100m backstroke. It (winning) means a lot because last year I was second place and I really wanted to win the race and finally I beat someone, so I can say I’m European and world champion which is really good.”

 

Men’s 50m backstroke

Gold – Miroslav Knedla (24.88) Czech Republic

Silver – Oleksandr Zheltyakov (25.10) Ukraine

Bronze – Matthew Ward (25.16) GB

“This is an amazing achievement for me to win this gold medal,” said Miroslav Knedla. “I’m so happy that my family was here and saw it. I didn’t expected this time, I’m so happy about it. I swam right after the 50 back the 200 IM, I won the semis, so this is an amazing day for me!”

 

Women’s 50m breaststroke

Eneli Jefimova (30.33) Estonia

Karolina Piechowicz (31.18) Poland

Olivia Klint Ipsa (31.23) Sweden

“It’s very special for me that the second year I win this event,” said Eneli Jefimova. “The time was okay, better than prelims and I’m very happy. I think I don’t notice (pressure) but I’m doing my thing and I try to block the attention out. I’m so proud to win for my country Estonia and I think I’m the first swimmer to swim in finals in this event and the podium so I’m really proud.”

 

Men’s 50m breaststroke

Gold – Jonas Gaur (27.57) Denmark

Silver – Uros Zivanovic (28.08) Serbia

Bronze – Emilian Hollank (28.14) Germany

“It was just absolutely amazing and something I’ve dreamt of, to actually do it (win gold) and achieve it is just so surreal and an amazing,” said Jonas Gaur. “My team is incredible and I love all of them and I could hear all of them all the way, even on one lap and it was incredible to experience. They gave me those last few hundredths and maybe even seconds, so it was great to hear them.”

 

Men’s 200m butterfly

Gold – Andrea Camozzi (1:58.59) Italy

Silver – Vlad-Stefan Mihalache (1:58.84) Romania

Bronze – Samuel Kostal (1:59.30) Slovakia

“It’s a very amazing race, on all the bad days it’s always been in my head to keep going and this a moment that’s taken a lot of hard work, but now I’m here as European champion,” said Andrea Camozzi. “It is very beautiful, it’s my third European championships and when I went to my first I said one day I will be European Champion and now I have achieved this.”

 

Women’s 1500m freestyle

Gold – Merve Tuncel (16:18.53) Turkiye

Silver – Amelie Blocksidge (16:20.19) GB

Bronze – Marian Ploeger (16:23.69) Germany

"This is my fourth Junior European Championships, I'm so happy to be here,” said Merve Tuncel. “It was a really competitive race. I'm really happy with this gold, because I won the 1500m freestyle four times in a row.

 

Mixed 4x100m freestyle relay

Gold – Hungary (3:29.75) – Boldizsar Magda, Matyas Harsanyi, Dora Molnar, Nikolett Padar

Silver – Italy (3:30.66)

Bronze – France (3:30.85)

“It's my second gold today, I can't be happier,” said Nikolett Padar. Team-mate Boldizsár Magda added; “"I'm really happy! That was a very tough competition - the Romanian swimmer next to me was very strong, my goal was that to touch the wall first and make a big pace for my team mate."