Russian backstrokers were on song in the 100m finals at the Canet round of the Mare Nostrum tour this evening, Anastasia Zueva (RUS) clocking her second-best time ever, of 59.37, and Arkady Vyatchanin just getting the touch over Britain's Liam Tancock with a 54.90 effort.
Zueva, 19 this year, is one of those who aims to make hay while newly wed American Olympic champion Natalie Coughlin is away this summer and the runes read well. The Russian teenager was faster than she had been at Russian nationals in April and approached the 59.16 she clocked in the medley relay at the Beijing Olympics last year. Behind her in Canet were Elizabeth Simmonds (GBR) in 1:00.91 and Daniel Samulski (GER) in 1:01.34. In the men's final, which went with an empty lane 2 after the withdrawal of Austrian Markus Rogan, the longest levers in the pool got the touch, Vyatchanin stretching that bit further than Tancock, while the winner's teammate, Stanislav Donets took third a further fraction behind, in 55.55, with 18-year-old Ben Treffers, of Australia, contributing to a tight race with a 55.72.
The Russians' efforts are encouraging for new head coach Andrei Vorontsov, a man of scientific background who has made no secret of his opposition to the use of non-textile "fast" suits, having observed their effects up close for the past year. At nationals in April he had his charges race in a variety of arena suits from X-Glide to old-style classic textile suits in order to get them ready to use whatever necessary to stay competitive at a time when apparel counts towards the result.
One of the best swims of the day was a sweeping 2:23.66 victory in the 200m breaststroke for Mirna Jukic (AUT). The 23-year-old set a lifetime best and European record of 2:22.46 back in April in Vienna and is among the medals favourites bound for world championships next month. The closest challenger in Canet was European 100m record holder, Russian Yuli Efimova, on 2:26.00, with Joline Hostman (SWE) third in 2:28.26.
World champion Therese Alshammar (SWE) continued to show great form with a 25.57 win in the 50m butterfly. The time threatened her best of 25.46, which remains the world record until such times as FINA may ratify the 25.33 clocked by Marleen Veldhuis in a suit that subsequently failed to get through independent tests.
Alshammar clocked 25.42 Down Under in March but the time could not count because she was wearing two suits at the time. Of course, the Swedish champion had the technique and the build for speed long before fast suits and multi-layers came along, and remains a sprint force to reckon with as she aims to defend her world crown.
Second in Canet went to Marieke Guehrer (AUS) in 26.10, with Ingvild Snildal third in 26.31. The men's race saw Rafa Munoz (ESP) get his fingertips to the wall first, 23.37 to 23.44 for Andrew Lauterstein (AUS) and world champion Roland Schoeman (RSA), on 23.57. Munoz will have been happy to get that touch but will know that the gap between him and rivals is much narrower than paper suggests. The France-based Spaniard is waiting to hear whether the 22.43 world record he set while wearing a Jaked01 will count after the apparel failed to make it past independent testing last May. Munoz cracked 23sec five times in a Jaked01 and will be looking to do so again in pursuit of the world crown without that suit next month. Just off the pace but in the race was Geoff Huegill, 2000 Olympic medallist, in 24.01, matching the time of Duje Draganja (CRO).
Alshammar's training partner in Sydney, Libby Trickett (AUS), world champion and Olympic silver medallist in the 100m free, came within half a second of her global mark with a 53.27 blast. The only other sub-54 swim took teenager Francesca Halsall to within 0.8sec of her British record, with a 53.89 effort ahead of former world champion Hanna Maria Seppala (FIN), on 54.41.
The men's two-lap sprint final saw Trickett's squad partner, world record holder and Olympic silver medallist Eamon Sullivan (AUS) forced to settle for sixth place. Fabien Gilot gave the home French crowd much to cheer about with a 48.33 blast ahead of a 48.45 for Danila Izotov (RUS) and a 48.75 for his teammate Evgeny Lagunov. At French nationals in April, Gilot went through the rounds in 48.29 and 47.98 before a 48.18 in the final that saw Alain Bernard clock 46.94 while wearing an arena X-Glide suit that had not been approved for use by FINA and was subsequently rejected in the independent testing process.
In Canet, the only other sub-49 swim came from Stefan Nystrand (SWE), on 48.94, that followed by a 49.05 by Russian Andrey Grechin, one of those who will help to make the Russian sprint quartet a podium hope in Rome next month, before Sullivan's 49.13. The heats witnessed the elimination of Cesar Cielo (BRA), 11th on 49.48, while his part-time training partner Fred Bousquet (FRA) did not race and was reported to be suffering from a fever.
Bronte Barratt (AUS) had little trouble keeping the pack at bay in the 400m free, victory sealed in 4:08.24 ahead of Wendy Trott (RSA), on 4:10.40, while medley ace Hannah Miley (GBR) will be justly encouraged in the midst of a multiple event programme with a solid 4:11.52, all part of the work that goes into bringing the bacon home in the long medley.
Anthony Pannier (FRA) and Ross Davenport (GBR) had a terrific spar in the men's eight-lapper, the Frenchman getting the touch by 0.02sec in 3:52.07, with third place going to another home charge, Nicolas Rostoucher, on 3:55.81.
Christian Sprenger (AUS) got to the wall first in the 200m breaststroke, his 2:11.89 keeping Aussie teammate Craig Calder and Germany's Marco Koch at bay in 2:12.43 and 2:12.59 respectively.
The women's 200m medley went to Kathryn Meaklim (RSA) in 2:14.79, with Daria Belyakina (RUS) just behind, on 2:15.39, and Ida Sandin (SWE) third in 2:17.64. The men's short medley went to Vytautas Janusaitis (LTU) in 2:01.08, ahead of Darian Townsend (RSA), on 2:01.44, and Leith Brodie (AUS), on 2:02.03.
Felicity Galvez (AUS) stole the show with a 2:08.00 win in the 200m butterfly that saw teammate and Olympic bronze medallist Jess Schipper locked out of the top three on 2:11.91. Second went to Germany's Annika Mehlhorn, on 2:11.61, with Sweden's Petra Grunland third in 2:11.64. Next home, Miley continued her multi-stroke testing, with a 2:13.68 effort.
The men's final was a much closer affair: Mirna's bro, Dinko Jukic got the touch in 1:56.99 ahead of Chris Wright (AUS), on 1:57.35, with Nikolay Skvortsov (RUS), 0.12sec adrift and Mark Dylla (USA) on 1:58.55.
The tour now moves to a final round in Monte Carlo at the weekend, when times are expected to be a touch faster than in Canet in a fair few events. The following week, many of those in Europe for the tour will race at the Paris Open.
In the summer of the 13th FINA world championships, The Suit Remains Significant.
