The Swiss men’s 4x200m freestyle relay just missed the feat on the first day of the Europeans in the long pool of Rome.
Antonio Djakovic, Nils Liess, Noè Ponti and Roman Mityukov took 4th place in the final, won by Hungary.
The ambitious Swiss quartet, who ranked 6th at the Tokyo Olympics last summer in the same composition, achieved 7’08”26 to fail 1”29 from third place won by France. But the podium was still within reach after 750 meters of racing.
Second after a first 100 meters ‘swallowed’ in 49”24, Roman Mityukov was indeed still in 3rd position 50 m from the finish. But the Genevan cracked on his last length of basin, even if he signed an excellent time (1’46”39 launched).
Liess, the weak link
The Swiss relay was ideally launched by Antonio Djakovic, who swam 1’46”10, 0”33 from his national record. Spared in the playoffs where he was replaced by Jérémy Desplanches, Noè Ponti also perfectly held his rank (1’46”42).
Third torchbearer, Nils Liess, however, did not perform well enough, contenting himself with a time of 1’49”35. Annoying, because a time close to the Swiss record (7’06”12) would have made it possible to win silver…
Ugolkova en finale
Maria Ugolkova qualified for the 100m freestyle final, scheduled for Friday. The swimmer from Uster-Wallisellen achieved 54”79 in the semi-finals to clinch the 8th and last finalist ticket. In the absence of the ‘queen’ Sarah Sjostrom, the best time was the work of the fiancée of Jérémy Desplanches, the French Charlotte Bonnet (53”56).
The other representatives of Swiss Aquatics engaged on Thursday were eliminated during the playoffs. Marius Toscan finished 12th in the 400m medley in 4’20”87, more than a second from a place in the final. Nina Kost (2’15”19) and Fanny Borer (2’15”60) placed 20th and 22nd respectively in the 200m backstroke, while young Noemi Freimann (17) was 20th in the 800 m in 8’59”60.
/ATS