European Championships, Day Two Semifinals: David Popovici Looks Superb in 100 Freestyle; WR on Radar
If the morning prelims are an indication of what is to come on the second night of semifinals at the European Championships, it will be a swift evening in the French capital. The morning session saw some quick performances, including a world junior record from France’s Nathan Muratory in the 200-meter backstroke and a 47.13 opener from Romanian star David Popovici in the 100 freestyle.
There are four semifinals slated for Night Two in Paris, with the men’s 200 backstroke and 100 freestyle complemented by the women’s 100 breaststroke and 50 butterfly. In the 50 fly, Sarah Sjostrom eased her way through prelims, taking the top seed in 25.40. That time is a cruise-control mark for the Swedish star, who is expected to ramp up the speed at night while preparing for Wednesday’s final.
Coming off a Commonwealth Games title, Great Britain’s Angharad Evans registered a strong prelims in the 100 breaststroke, where she was timed in a championship record of 1:05.45. Evans heads into the semifinals with a half-second margin over Ireland’s Mona McSharry, who went 1:05.97 in the morning.
Here is an event-by-event recap of the Day Two semifinals:
Women’s 100 Breaststroke
Relying on her back-half speed, Great Britain’s Angharad Evans rallied from fifth at the turn to win her semifinal in the 100 breaststroke and lock up the top seed for the final. Evans reeled in the opposition on the homecoming lap and touched the wall in a championship record of 1:04.97, an effort that was only .01 off her British record. Evans is undoubtedly the favorite for gold, and if she can get out faster over the opening 50 meters, something in the 1:04-mid range is attainable.
The Commonwealth Games champion in the 100 breaststroke, Evans is more than a second faster than the 1:06.07 she produced in Glasgow. She was followed in qualifying for the final by Ireland’s Mona McSharry, who checked in with a time of 1:05.64, just .13 off her national record. The third and fourth positions were secured by Estonia’s Eneli Jefimova (1:05.78) and Italian Benedetta Pilato (1:05.85), with Germany’s Anna Elendt also going sub-1:06 in 1:05.92.
Men’s 200 Backstroke
Right from the start, Hungary’s Hubert Kos chased the legendary world record of Aaron Peirsol in the 200 backstroke, and he came up just shy of the 17-year-old standard. Ahead of world-record pace for the first 175 meters, Kos put together a spectacular swim of 1:52.30, finishing only .38 off the time Peirsol recorded at the 2009 World Championships in Rome. The time moved to Kos to No. 2 on the all-time list, and he’ll get another chance at the record in the final.
The second seed for the final was claimed by Greece’s Apostolos Sisko, who led three other men under 1:55. Siskos registered a swim of 1:54.06 and was followed by Czechia’s Jan Cejka (1:54.40) and Switzerland’s Roman Mityukov (1:54.85).
Women’s 50 Butterfly
A six-time world champion in the 50 butterfly, Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom appears poised to capture her sixth European crown in the event after posting the fastest time of the semifinals. Sjostrom won the second semifinal in 25.12, an effort that handed her a .32 margin over Russia’s Arina Surkova (25.44) heading into the final. Advancing as the third seed was Belgium’s Roos Vanotterdijk, who turned in an outing o5 25.45.
One of only two women in history to break the 25-second barrier in the event, Sjostrom has a commanding edge entering the final and it will be surprising if she doesn’t return to 24-second territory. She will be joined in the final by countrywoman Sara Junevik, who was fourth in the semifinals, going 25.61.
Men’s 100 Freestyle
For the seventh time in his career, Romanian David Popovici broke the 47-second barrier in the 100 freestyle, his time of 46.72 easily leading the semifinals. Popovici lowered his own championship record and looks every bit ready to challenge the world record of 46.40, which was set by China’s Pan Zhanle at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Popovici went out in 22.57 and came home in 24.15, and when he looked at the scoreboard after the race, the 21-year-old gave a nod of approval.
Popovici is the ultimate closer in the event and has complemented that weapon with the best early speed of his career. The owner of the European record at 46.51, Popovici just missed Pan’s world record at last year’s World Championships in Singapore. He’ll certainly have that standard on his radar in the final.
Spanish 18-year-old Luca Hoek broke his own national record en route to the second seed, going 47.26 to finish just ahead of Russia’s Egor Kornev, who went 47.27. Kornev was coming off a gold medal in the 50 butterfly earlier in the session and went sub-47 earlier this year.
