European Championships, Budapest, day 4 finals:
Men 200m breaststroke
On their feet every stroke of the way, vuvuzelas cracking the air like a whip, the Hungarian crowd willed and whistled world champion Daniel Gyurta to a championship record of 2:08.95. The only other man in the frame was 100m champion Alex Dale Oen (NOR), on 2:09.68, with bronze going to Hugues Duboscq, a Frenchman now celebrating 12 big international long-course medals, not a gold among them.
Consider the metronomic nature of the winner's splits: 29.55, 33.02 33.01 and 33.37, delivering a time 0.45sec outside the world record that had stood to Brendan Hansen (USA) on the eve of the shiny suits era.
Dale Oen, racing in lane 2, produced tick-tock precision on the clock too: 29.32, 33.36, 33.63, 33.37.
The splits compared:
- Gyurta (2) 29.55; (1) 1:02.57; (1) 1:35.58; 2:08.95
- Dale Oen (1) 29.32; (2) 1:02.68; (2) 1:36.31; 2:09.68
- Gyurta ER: 29.30; 1:02.14; 1:34.84; 2:07.64
The difference is the drag towards the wall when the pain sets in with steely determination.
"After the world and European titles, of course, I want the triple in London 2012. I think I'm on the right path," said the 21-year-old coached by Sandor Szeles. "The heats and semis were marked by tactics. That's why I had to swim the first 100m faster than before. I'm always strongest on the last lap anyway.:
Not quite today: Dale Oen matched him, on 33.37. The Norwegian, coached by Stig Legander Hansen, paid tribute to the 2004 Olympic silver medallist of 2004 (at 15): "Daniel is the king of 200m breaststroke. He was so strong and was simply unbeatable today. I have to train differently for the 200m to get faster. The 200m is always a 'beast' for me."
On hand was 1988 Olympic 200m champion for Hungary Joszef Zsabo, who noted that he had taken 20 strokes per length, to the 16 that Gyurta took tonight. "That's how far breaststroke has come in 20 years," he said.
Duboscq, with the kind of resignation that drives his coach Christos Paparrodopoulos to distraction, offered this: "I knew that gold and silver were beyond my reach. I had to concentrate on my stroke, especially for the first half of the race to save strength for the last lap. A usual [Grigory] Falko came back strongly but I was able to fend him off." Falko (RUS) clocked 2:11.70.
History unfolding:
Effect on race on all-time top 10: 0
Euro podiums:
- 2010: 2:08.95cr - 2:11.03
- 2008: 2:09.64 - 2:09.91
- 2006: 2:12.12 - 2:13.21
Euro finals:
- 2010: 2:08.95 - 2:12.76
- 2008: 2:09.64 - 2:15.63
- 2006: 2:12.12 - 2:14.74 (fastest man, Loris Faccis, ITA, DQ'd)
- Most Euro wins: Nick Gillingham (GBR), 3
- Most Titles/Nation: GBR, GER, 6 each
- Tightest Podium: 1985 - gold to bronze - 0.16sec
From the archive: The 1950 champion, Herbert Klein is among eight Germans to have won the crown since 1926, though none have done so since Gerald Moerken in 1977. Klein went down in swimming history for another reason too: he was at the centre of an officiating decision at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne that caused schism in FINA and delayed the presidency of Max Ritter. Winner of the second heat of the 200m Down Under, Klein was accused of using a scissor kick and dipping his right shoulder. In protest, Ritter, FINA Vice-President born in Germany and representing the USA, boycotted the Congress at which he would have been elevated to President. Ironically, Masaru Furukawa (JPN) claimed the crown in an Olympic record of 2:34.7 by exploiting a loophole in the rules: he sent 150m of the race under water, surfacing only to swim into and out of turns and for the finish.
Records
Shiny suit era
- WR: 2:07.31 Christian Sprenger (AUS) Jul 2009
- ER: 2:07.64 Daniel Gyurta (HUN) Jul 2009
February 1 2008
- WR: 2:08.50 Brendan Hansen (USA) Aug 2006
- ER: 2:09.52 Dimitri Komornikov (RUS) Jun 2003
