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Efimova Blasts 1:06.32 CR 100 Breast

Aug 11, 2010  - Craig Lord

European Championships, Budapest, day 3 finals:

Women 100m breaststroke

Yulia Efimova (RUS) claimed her first 100m European crown in a championship record of 1:06.32, off a 31.39 split. She led from start to finish. The silver was shared by Rikke Moeller Pedersen (DEN) and Jennie Johansson, both on 1:07.36, that a lifetime best for the Swede, who locked out teammate Joline Hoestman, on 1:07.98.

Efimova, coached by Irina Vyatchanina, said: "I prepared very well for these championships and wanted to swim faster that I did today. However for me these championships are just another step on the road to the Olympic Games in London."

The Russian was a class apart technically and she won the crown in two parts: first on the first length at 31.29, drawing Johansson to 31.58, Pedersen in the middle of them on 32.31; then with a homecoming 34.93, the fastest in the final. Efimova's stroke hardly faltered as she surged ahead, power and precision in tandem.

History unfolding:

Effect on race on all-time top 10: 0

Euro podiums:

  • 2010: 1:06.32 - 1:07.36
  • 2008: 1:08.18 - 1:09.83
  • 2006: 1:07.55 - 1:08.60

Euro finals:

  • 2010: 1:06.32cr - 1:09.19
  • 2008: 1:08.18 - 1:08.94
  • 2006: 1:07.55 - 1:09.47
  • Most Euro wins:  Agnes Kovacs (HUN), 3
  • Most Titles/Nation: GDR, 5
  • Tightest Podium: 2004 - gold to bronze - 0.18sec

From the archive:  Sylvia Gerasch won silver at the European Championships in 1983, set the first of two world records for the GDR in 1984, claimed the European crown in 1985 on her way to the world title in 1986 and a world record of 1:08.11. In 1987, she reached the continental podium a third time, with a bronze. The Berlin Wall, and with is a systematic doping programme called State Plan 14:25, fell in 1989 - but Gerasch's story did not end there. In 1991, racing for a unified Germany, she finished 6th in the European final and at Sheffield in 1993 claimed the crown once more, in 1:10.05. In 2000, she was back, claiming silver behind Agnes Kovacs (HUN). An extraordinary run. At 13 in the GDR, she had been given steroids as part of State Plan 14:25. In late 1993, Gerasch failed a doping test for caffeine at the European short-course Championships in Gateshead, where coffee was served to swimmers on the poolside. The ban was, fittingly, reduced to three months. In 2003, caffeine was dropped from the list of banned substances. 

Records

Shiny suit era

  • WR: 1:04.45 Jessica Hardy (USA) Aug 2009
  • ER: 1:05.41 Yulia Efimova (RUS) Jul 2009 

As at February 1  2008

  • WR: 1:05.09 Leisel Jones (AUS) Mar 2006
  • ER: 1:07.27Ana Khlystunova (UKR) Mar 2007