The fifth and final day of the LEN European Short Course Championships concluded at the beautiful Royal Arena in Copenhagen, Denmark, with Sarah Sjöström powering her way to three gold medals — including a stunning upset for the Swedish women in the 4x50m medley relay. 

Italy pulled three golds thanks to their men — Luca Dotto, Simone Sabbioni and Marco Orsi — while Russia crushed the world record in the men’s 4x50m medley relay to end the meet on top of the medal table. 

Medal Count — Final

2017 LEN European Short Course Championships

December 13-17 

Copenhagen, Denmark

Royal Arena

Short Course Meters (25m)

WATCH LIVE (North America Only)

LIVE RESULTS

Women 50m Freestyle

RECORDS

World Record: 22.93 – Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED), 2017

World Junior Record: 24.00 – Zhu Menghui (CHN), 2016

European Record: 22.93 – Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED), 2017

Championship Record: 23.32 – Hinkelien Schreuder (NED), 2009

Semifinals

Sarah Sjöström flexed her muscles to take top seed and strive for her first gold medal this week. It took a scorching 24.1 to make the final, with most women juggling multiple races and relay duties also this session. 

1. Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) – 23.39
2. Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED) – 23.53 
3. Pernille Blume (DEN) – 23.62
4. Charlotte Bonnett (FRA) – 23.88
5. Rozaliya Nasretdinova (RUS) – 23.93
6. Maria Kameneva (RUS) – 24.03
7. Femke Hemskeerk (NED) – 24.05
8. Mimosa Jallow (FIN) – 24.17

Final

Sjöström finally got the job done, beating the WR holder Ranomi Kromowidjojo — by a mere 0.01 — to leave Copenhagen with a gold medal around her neck. Both women swam under the championship record, with Pernille Blume not far behind taking bronze in a 23.49 Danish record. 

1. Sarah Sjostrom (SWE) – 23.30 [Championship Record]
2. Ranomi Kromowidjojo (NED) – 23.31
3. Pernille Blume (DEN) – 23.49

Men 50m Backstroke

RECORDS

World Record: 22.22 – Florent Manaudou (FRA), 2014

World Junior Record: 23.28 – Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS), 2017

European Record: 22.22 – Florent Manaudou (FRA), 2014

Championship Record: 22.74 – Stanislav Donets (RUS), 2010

Semifinals

Kliment Kolesnikov again topped the billing, winning his semi in 23.14, slightly slower than his prelims time. The final is stacked with talent with 100m medalists Robert Glinta and Simone Sabbioni in the field, and 50m specialists Jeremy Stravius and Pavel Sankovich. 

1. Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS) – 23.14
2. Robert Glinta (ROU) – 23.21
3. Pavel Sankovich (BLR) – 23.28
4. Simone Sabbioni (ITA) – 23.31
5. Catalin-Paul Ungur (ROU) – 23.34
6. Jeremy Stravius (FRA) – 23.35
7. Kacper Stokowski (POL) – 23.42
8. Christian Diener (GER) – 23.64

Final

It was an upset, with 21-year-old Italian Sabbioni collecting his first European title, touching out the taller Kolesnikov by just 0.02 to collect victory. His 23.05 is an Italian record, and Kolesnikov’s 23.07 again lowers his own world junior record. 

1. Simone Sabbioni (ITA) – 23.05
2. Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS) – 23.07 [World Junior Record] 
3. Jeremy Stravius (FRA) – 23.12

Women 200m Breaststroke

RECORDS

World Record: 2:14.57 – Rebecca Soni (USA), 2009

World Junior Record: 2:18.90 

European Record: 2:15.21 – Rikke Moeller Pedersen (DEN), 2013 

Championship Record: 2:15.21 – Rikke Moeller Pedersen (DEN), 2013 

Final

Spain got their first gold of the week — denying home country Denmark in the process — with national team veteran Jessica Vall Montero using her strong back half to pull away for victory over Rikke Moeller Pedersen. 

1. Jessica Vall Montero (ESP) – 2:18.41
2. Rikke Moeller Pedersen (DEN) – 2:19.53
3. Fanny Lecluyse (BEL) – 2:19.68

Men 100m Freestyle

RECORDS

World Record: 44.94 – Amaury Leveaux (FRA), 2008

World Junior Record: 46.12 – Kyle Chalmers (AUS), 2016

European Record: 44.94 – Amaury Leveaux (FRA), 2008

Championship Record: 44.94 – Amaury Leveaux (FRA), 2008

Final

Italy’s Luca Dotto got out to an early lead in this one and was never really challenged on his way to gold. Splitting 22.00/24.11, Dotto won the second gold of the night for the Italian men — and fourth overall — to push them into third on the medal table. 

1. Luca Dotto (ITA) – 46.11
2. Pieter Timmers (BEL) – 46.54
3. Duncan Scott (GBR) – 46.64

Women 100m Butterfly

RECORDS

World Record: 54.61 – Sarah Sjöström (SWE), 2014

World Junior Record: 55.64 – Rikako Ikee (JPN), 2017

European Record: 54.61 – Sarah Sjöström (SWE), 2014

Championship Record: 55.03 – Sarah Sjöström (SWE), 2015

Final 

Sjöström picked up gold number two for the night with a commanding victory in her pet 100m butterfly event. Her time of 55.00 was a new championship record.

1. Sarah Sjöström (SWE) – 55.00 [Championship Record]
2. Marie Wattel (FRA) – 55.97
3. Emilie Beckman (DEN) – 56.22

Men 100m IM

RECORDS

World Record: 50.30 – Vladimir Morozov (RUS), 2016

World Junior Record: 51.65 – Michael Andrew (USA), 2017

European Record: 50.30 – Vladimir Morozov (RUS), 2016

Championship Record: 50.78 – Peter Mankoc (CRO), 2009

Final

Italy collected gold yet again, with Marco Orsi upsetting favorite Sergei Fesikov in the final. Fesikov was out fast — 22.96 at the 50m — and had a large 0.35 lead over Orsi and the rest of the field, but it was Orsi’s back half breast-free combo of 28.45 that was too much for Fesikov to hold off. 

1. Marco Orsi (ITA) – 51.76
2. Sergei Fesikov (RUS) – 51.94
3. Kyle Stolk (NED) – 51.99

Women 400m Freestyle

RECORDS

World Record: 3:54.52 – Mireia Belmonte Garcia (ESP), 2013

World Junior Record: 3:59.14 – Li Bingjie (CHN), 2017

European Record: 3:54.52 – Mireia Belmonte Garcia (ESP), 2013

Championship Record: 3:54.85 – Camille Muffat (FRA), 2012 

Final

Boglarka Kapas and Sarah Koehler again fought out this race — just like they did in the 800m final — but it was a role reversal. Koehler led early and both turned in 1:58 splits at the 200m wall, but Kapas took the lead at 250m and her 29.9/29.1 last 100m splits were too much for the younger Koehler to keep pace with. 

1. Boglarka Kapas (HUN) – 3:58.15
2. Sarah Koehler (GER) – 3:59.12
3. Julia Hassler (LIE) – 4:02.43

Men 200m Butterfly

RECORDS

World Record: 1:48.56 – Chad Le Clos (RSA), 2013     

World Junior Record: 1:51.30 

European Record: 1:49.00 – Laszlo Cseh (HUN), 2015

Championship Record: 1:49.00 – Laszlo Cseh (HUN), 2015

Final

It was another upset, with Russia’s Aleksandr Kharlanov pressing hard early — splitting under WR pace at the 50m, 100m, and 150m turns — to take victory in 1:50.54. Kharlanov fell off hard on the last 50m with his 30.0 split, after turning at 1:20.45 at the 150m mark. Fastest seed Laszlo Cseh tried to go with him early, but wasn’t able to hold it together and fade to fifth in 1:52.96, much slower than his prelim time from the morning. 

1. Aleksandr Kharlanov (RUS) – 1:50.54
2. Andreas Vazaios (GRE) – 1:51.23
3. Tamas Kenderesi (HUN) – 1:52.25

Women 4x50m Medley Relay

RECORDS

World Record: 1:43.27 – USA, 2016

World Junior Record: 1:52.11

European Record: 1:42.69 – Netherlands, 2009

Championship Record: 1:42.69 – Netherlands, 2009

Final

Sweden caused a huge boil over in this final to steal victory from lane one thanks to huge splits from Sarah Sjöström (24.27, fly) and Sophie Hansson (29.30, breast). They were supported by 17-year-old Hanna Rosvall (26.96, back), and Michelle Coleman (23.90, free). 

Sweden — and Sjöström — started the night without any gold medals to their credit, and now finish with three. Denmark swam to second in front of their home crowd, thanks to a 23.21 freestyle anchor from Pernille Blume, while Russia finished seventh from lane 4. 

1. Sweden – 1:44.43
2. Denmark – 1:45.00
3. France – 1:45.35

Men 4x50m Medley Relay

RECORDS

World Record: 1:30.51 – Brazil, 2014

World Junior Record: 1:38.29

European Record: 1:31.25 – France, 2014

Championship Record: 1:31.71 – Italy, 2015

Final

The Russian men won yet another relay title, this time clipping the world record en route to dominating the final. Here are their splits; 

Kliment Kolesnikov (22.83, World Junior Record), Kirill Prigoda (25.26), Aleksandr Popkov (22.11), Vlad Morozov (20.24). 

Kolesnikov smashed his WJR in a time that would’ve also won the individual final earlier tonight, while Morozov’s 20.24 is one of the fastest is history and presses the magical 20-second barrier. Prigoda and Popkov also had the fastest splits in the field for their strokes, to totally annihilate this final. 

1. Russia – 1:30.44 [World Record]
2. Italy – 1:31.91
3. Belarus – 1:32.06

By Bobby Hurley