First medals at the European swimming championships in Belgrade, on stage at the Sport Center Milan Gale Muskatirovic. And in a competition where the big guns are absent, surprises can be the order of the day. And so it happens in the 4s00 mixed, where we expected a Hungarian fight between Balasz Hollo and Gabor Zombori, but instead it is Apostolos Papastamos who smiles with the gold around his neck.
What makes the difference for the twenty-three-year-old from Greece, gold at the European Short Course Championships in 2023, is the breaststroke, with which he manages to distance the two Hungarians to then be able to contain the damage in the last 100 meters in freestyle. Applause victory for him in 4’10”83, thus having the honor of playing the first anthem of the competition.
The two 4×200 freestyle events instead see Israel rejoicing among the women and Lithuania among the men. In the first race Anastasia Gorbenko, Daria Golovaty, Ayla Riley Spitz and Lea Polonski lead the race, touching the European record in the first 400 meters and then containing the returns of Hungary and the Turks. Lithuanians who instead thank Danas Rapsys, reigning world silver medalist in the specialty, who eats up his opponents in the last fraction and finishes in 7’08”04 ahead of Hungary and Greece.
In today’s semi-finals 50 men’s butterfly smiles at the Greek Stergios Marios Bilas, with 23″06 best time of the day ahead of the Israeli Meiron Amir Cheruti, in 23″20, and Szebastian Szabo, who could still have a little something in his pocket for tomorrow’s final. Barbora Seemanova, on the other hand, seems to have no rival in the 100 freestyle, she is the only one to go below the 54″ mark (53″95), with the Hungarian Nikolett Padar setting the second best time of the day, 22 hundredths away.
Hungary is also the protagonist in the women’s 200m backstroke, with Dora Molnar and Eszter Szabo Feltothi set the two best times with the Polish Adela Piskorsa with the third fastest time. 100 men’s breaststroke which instead confirms the very good attitude of the German Melvin Imoudu, who in 59″28 beat the Turkish Berkay Omer Ogretir by almost three tenths
