Otylia Jedrzejczak, the Olympic champion from Poland, sent an early warning to pretenders to her throne when she axed 0.51sec off the world s/c record to win the European s/c crown in 2:03.53. Moments after, Laszlo Cseh (HUN) cracked the world record over 200m medley, in 1:52. 99 to set the home pool alight.
The 200m butterfly world record splits:
The 200m medley world record splits:
In the 200m butterfly, Jedrzejczak swam, yet again, as she knows best: a fast but controlled first 100m followed by a third 50m that crushes the opposition, before bringing home the bacon. Emese Kovacs (HUN) led at 50 and 100m 27.54 and 59.29 to the Pole's 28.56 and 59.51 but the Olympic champion sped past her as she covered laps 5 and 6 1.17sec faster than the Hungarian.
Kovacs held on for silver in a national record of 2:05.41 (inside Bea Boulsevicz's 2:06.62 from 2006), while bronze went to Annika Mehlhorn (GER) in 2:06.53, just 0.01sec ahead of Terri Dunning (GBR). Dunning's time was a British record inside the 2:07.36 of Jessica Dickons, absent while training Down Under, and a personal best by 1.99sec.
In the 200m medley, Cseh crushed his opponents from go, racing between 1.5 and 2sec ahead of the pack after butterfly and extending his lead with every split after that. There were only five individual splits in the entire field faster than the Hungarian's passing speed. Sasa Impric (CRO), 1:57.48, took silver, bronze going to Alexander Tikhonov (RUS), in 1:57.59.
Markus Rogan, the Austrian Olympic silver medallist now based in Rome, shaved 0.12sec off the European s/c record over 200m backstroke to claim the continental 25m crown in 1:49.86 in Debrecen, Hungary.
The record had stood to Russian Arkady Vyatchanin, absent from Debrecen, his focus on the long-course season ahead. Not that Rogan - whose girlfriend Christine Reiler, is Miss Austria - is not looking to Beijing, of course: his effort, second fastest all-time behind American Ryan Lochte's 1:49.05 world record, marked a personal progress of 0.57sec for the man who had stood at fourth on the all-time performers list before the race. In terms of performances, Rogan has three entries in the all-time top 10, more than anyone else, with Aaron Peirsol and Randall Bal each with two entries. Bal, with an unbeaten run of 21 world cup victories, had held the world's fastest time this season at 1:50.42.
Rogan trailed Stanislav Donets (RUS) at 50 and 100m (54.57 to 55.06 but raced the third 50m in 26.90. No-one else broke 28sec on laps 5 and 6. Donets stayed ahead of the pack for silver, in 1:51.94, 10th all-time, with bronze going to Aschwin Wildeboer (ESP) in 1:52.12, 12th all-time. The French pair of Pierre Roger and Ben Stasiulis just missed the podium, on 1:52.72 and 1:53.08. If neither could quite produce the form they found at nationals in Nime last week, then Germany's Helge Meeuw continued to struggle top reproduce best form when it counts most, clocking 1:55. 05 almost four seconds down on the time he clocked at home last month.
In a tight 400m freestyle final, Pawel Korzeniowski (POL) kept Paul Biedermann (GER) at bay by 0.04sec, the crown claimed in 3:38.72. The times were 0.52sec outside the Polish record and 0.54sec outside the German record - those standards held by the Debrecen medallists. Bronze went to Gergo Kis (HUN) in 3:39.52. Kis, a medley specialist and European junior champion, is a name to watch for.
The women's 200m medley witnesses a blanket finish: the title went to Camille Muffat (FRA) in 2:09.05, just 0.1sec shy of the French record she set in Nimes last week. Muffat spent much of the race a fraction behind Katarzyna Baranowska (POL) but had the edge on freestyle, the Pole claiming silver in 2:09.25, a Polish record by 0.22sec, ahead of Evelyn Verraszto (HUN) on 2:09.83, and her teammate Katinka Hosszu, on 2:09.94. Like Kis, watch for those two 1989-born Hungarians: Verraszto had held the Hungarian record at 2:11.85, while Hosszu's best was 2:12.77.
Stefan Nystrand (SWE) added to a treasury of success in 2007 by taking the 50m freestyle title in 21.11, 0.18sec shy of the world record he set in Berlin last month. Silver went to Olympic silver medallist Duje Draganja (CRO), in 21.23, 0.15sec inside his national record and indicative of a return to form in time for Olympic year. Alain Bernard (FRA) completed the podium in 21.57.
In non-Olympic distances: the 50m breaststroke witnessed a joint victory for Yuliya Efimova (RUS) and Janne Schaefer (GER), on 30.33, with Sarah Poewe giving Germany a 1-3 result, on 30.80, 0.1sec ahead of Mirna Jukic (AUT); the men's 4x50m medley went to Germany in 1:34.39, with Russia and the Netherlands taking the spoils.
Those two last events gave Germany the edge on the medals table after day one, with two golds, a silver and two bronzes, though taking only Olympic events into account, as Beijing looms, Poland's two golds, a world record and a silver looks the stronger result in the round. Hungary's one gold, a world record, one silver and two bronzes was not only good for the home crowd, it reflected the coming of age of young talent. A good day for Arena too: Cseh, Jedrzejczak and Korzeniowski are all sponsored by the suit maker.
In semis, Laure Manaudou (FRA) missed the European record of 57.75 set by Ilona Hlavackova (CZE) in 2001 with a 57.78, and Mihail Alexandrov (BUL set a national record of 58.52 to lead qualifiers over 100m breaststroke ahead of Alex Dale Oen (NOR), 0.1sec inside his national record at 58.60. Britta Steffen (GER) took lane four of the 100m freestyle final in 52.96.