2006 is the year of the continental championships in swimming and athletics. The most productive on the medal discipline of the Olympic program rest from the hype, scattered throughout the cities and towns. Now Europeans can amuse their pride - it is no secret that they play secondary roles in world swimming.
Two old-world powers that once raised great swimmers did not stand the test of time. The Soviet Union collapsed, and Germany united, but the consequences were similar - degradation, decline. Australians and Americans sailed far ahead, but the old school is still strong on the European stage: Russia and Germany again challenge the first place in the team event.
On Monday, the first four sets of championship swimming program awards were played in the Tamash Sichi pool. First, 400 meters freestyle for men, then the same distance for women, but as a set, for dessert - two 4x100 meter freestyle relay races. The first appearance brought the gold medal of the Russian national team - Yuri Prilukov beat all four hundred meters. In the absence of Australian styers, Prilukov’s main rival was considered an experienced Italian Massimiliano Rossolino, holder of a European record. However, this record was set at the Olympics in Sydney, and since then Rossolino did not show such fast minutes or seconds. In the final, he started briskly - tried to achieve a significant advantage in the first half of the distance. Prilukov sailed according to an individual schedule: he began calmly, but with each subsequent turn he only added. 50 meters before the finish Rossolino was still ahead, but on the last straight Prilukov literally ate him. In addition to the title, the Russian got a European Championship record - now it is 3 minutes 45 seconds and 73 hundredths.
Prilukov’s record turned out to be just a prelude to the main achievement of the day - the world record in the women's 4x100 meter relay. The German team went to the main favorites, but rivals from Sweden, France and the Netherlands were not going to give up without a fight. The Oranges immediately declared their ambitions: Inge Dekker went through the first stage with the best time. However, already in the second shift there was a change of leader - Daniel Getz from the German national team walked around the girl with the unpronounceable name Ranomi Cromovigio. After that, the Germans went on a break and didn’t let anyone in to them. Annika Libs at the fourth stage struggled not to get out of the world record schedule and pulled out the best result in history. The Australian women's team has lost one of its many records, however, not the fact that for a long time. The Australian team is always preparing carefully for home starts, and it is in Melbourne that the next World Cup will be held in March.
For men in a similar relay race, a clear leader was not found: each stage put forward its heroes. Halfway it turned out that the fight for the medals will lead four teams - Sweden, France, Russia and Italy. The Russian team kept a little in the background - in the second or third places, but they didn’t let the opponents go. At the last stage, Andrey Kapralov did everything to win, but this was not enough. The Italian Filippo Magnini swam the absolutely 100th of the day and brought the Italian team the second gold medal. The first “azzurra squadra” was provided by young Alessia Filippi. 400 meters with integrated swimming is one of the most difficult distances, but the 19-year-old Filippi won against all experienced rivals (suffice it to say that the silver medalist of Budapest Nicole Hetzer is eight years older than the Italian). Third place was taken by the same age as Philippi Katarzyna Baranowska from Poland.
Meanwhile, the masters of open water and synchronized synchronization have already completed their performances. The Germans succeeded in the first of these species, having won seven medals, including four gold ones (Thomas Lurz and Angela Maurer noted with doubles). The Russian team has a more modest catch. Yekaterina Seliverstova and Larisa Ilchenko finished first and third respectively at a five-kilometer distance, and Natalya Pankina and Anton Sanachev won the silver marathon, who lost to the winner - Frenchman Gilles Rondi - in less than a second in a five-hour swim.
As for the championship in synchronized swimming, his Russian school holds for a long time and with confidence - not only at the European, but also at the global level. According to experts, before the London Olympics, that is, at least in the next six years, our compatriots will not have real rivals. In Budapest, they won all kinds of programs, although it cannot be said that the Russian team had no problems. After the tragic death of Olga Larkina, the attention of the trainers was almost entirely focused on the group composition, which had to be re-set. Thus, the duet Anastasia Davydova - Anastasia Ermakova performed last year’s program (they promise to prepare a new one for Melbourne), the same thing happened with the combination. Arriving in Budapest four days before the start, the athletes found that the organizers of the championship had a rather tough training regime: each team could swim to their music only 40 minutes a day (that's all about everything - soloists, duets, groups and a combination). In addition, the weather summed up - the finals of the groups had to be postponed for a day due to a terrible thunderstorm. Water is almost a native element for the participants of the championship, but this time it was too much. Downpour flooded the sides of the pool, judges and television equipment. However, all these difficulties did not affect in any way - at least outwardly - on the results of the competitions. They ended on time, and the advantage of the Russians in all forms was again undeniable.
World Aquatics Championship
Budapest
Swimming
400 m high. Men
1. Yu. Prilukov (ROS) - 3.45.73 (European Championship record)
2. M. Rossolino (ITA) - 3.46.87
3. N. Rostouche (FRA) - 3.47.04
400 m complex. Women
1. A. Filippi (ITA) - 4.35.80
2. N. Hetzer (GER) - 4.37.97
3. K. Baranovska (LP) - 4.40.02
Relay race 4x100 w / s. Men
1. Italy (A. Calvi, C. Galenda, L. Wismar, F. Magnini) - 3.15.23 (European Championship record)
2. Russia (E. Lagunov, A. Grechin, I. Usov, A. Kapralov) - 3.16.47
3. France - 3.16.53
Relay race 4x100 w / s. Women
1. Germany (P. Dahlmann, D. Goetz, B. Steffen, A. Liebs) - 3.35.22 (world record)
2. Holland - 3.37.04
3. France - 3.38.83
Open water
10 km
Men
1. T. Lurz (HER) - 1: 58.12.1
2. M. van de Weyden (GOL) - 1: 58.13.5
3. C. Hein (GER) - 1: 58.16.6
5 km
Women
1. E. Seliverstova (ROS) - 1: 01.50.8
2. K. Dietrich (FRA) - 1: 01.52.3
3. Ya. Pekhanova (CHEKH) and L. Ilchenko (ROS) - 1: 01.52.4 each
5 km
Men
1. T. Lurz (HER) - 56.00.1
2. C. Hein (GER) - 56.01.1
3. S. Ercoli (ITA) - 56.01.8
10 km
Women
1. A. Maurer (HER) - 2: 07.10.8
2. R. Kovacs (Vienna) - 2: 07.14.3
3. Ya. Pekhanova (CHEKH) - 2: 07.15.6
25 km
Men
1. J. Rondi (FRA) - 5: 10.17.3
2. A. Sanachev (ROS) - 5: 10.18.2
3. S. Gomez (FRA) - 5: 10.19.3
25 km
Women
1. A. Maurer (GER) - 5: 35.19.1
2. N. Pankina (ROS) - 5: 35.25.1
3.S. Biller (GER) - 5: 35.29.5
Synchronized swimming
Solo
1. N. Ilchenko (ROS) - 97.850 points
2. G. Mengual (COI) - 96,700
3. N. Antopoulou (GRE) - 92,400
Duets
1. Russia (A. Davydova, A. Ermakova) - 98.150
2. Spain - 96,800
3. Greece - 92,450
Groups
1. Russia (M. Gromova, N. Ilchenko, E. Khassyanova, O. Kuzhel, A. Nasekin, E. Ovchinnikov, S. Romashin, A. Shorin) - 98,500
2. Spain - 96,700
3. Italy - 92,800
Combination
1. Russia (A. Davydova, A. Ermakova, M. Gromova, N. Ishchenko, E. Hassyanova, O. Kuzhel, A. Nasekin, E. Ovchinnikov, S. Romashin, A. Shorin) - 97.900
2. Spain - 95,900
3. Italy - 93,500