Walshe & Ponti Fly To Gold As Medley Relay Makes Steenbergen Queen Of Lublin With 6 Golds & 8 Medals
A lead-off backstroke split of 24.47 by Marrit Steenbergen in the women's 4x50 medley would have won the dash at the start of the session and broke the European record that had stood to Sara Curtis for two hours and four minutes
Ireland's Ellen Walshe celebrated her first senior open international gold in the 200m butterfly as the Euro s/c Championships wrapped up in Lublin with a debut triumph for Poland's Justina Kozan and a title retained by Swiss ace Noe Ponti among victories that held off an Italian gold rush on day 6.
The championships ended with the medley relays for men and women, the latter delivering the last of six golds and eight podium for the Dutch queen of Lublin, Marrit Steenbergen.
Her lead-off backstroke split of 24.47 would have won the dash at the start of the session: it broke the European record that had stood to Sara Curtis for two hours and four minutes.
That marked Steenbergen's fifth European record in six days, after new standards in the 100m and 200m medley, 100 and 200m freestyle:
Craig Lord
Marrit's Last Gold:
Women's 200m butterfly - Ellen Walshe Washes Through The Shoal
Walshe, guided by coach Brian Sweeney and a Euro U-23 champ, turned 7th on the first two lengths 6th on the next three, and 5th at the 150m mark. Her last 50m changed the game as she stormed past three rivals with a 15.44 split to the last turn that lifted her to third on the shoulder of the two rivals left to hunt down. First to feel the heat was Anita Gastaldi, of Italy, then Denmark's favourite Helena Roisendahl Bach.
On 16-seconds flat down the last length, Walshe got her hand to the wall in 2:03.24, 0.31 clear of Bach, and 0.83 clear of Gastaldi, the podium settled:
Noe Ponti's Last Length Pounce Keep Polish Chmielewski Twins At Bay
The men's 200 'fly crown stayed on the head of Swiss ace Noe Ponti, coached by Massimo Meloni (Head Coach) and Andrea Mercuri(Assistant/Athletic Trainer) at the Swiss Aquatics Training Centre (SATB) in Tenero.
Polish twins Krzysztof and Michal Chmielewski had the crowd on their side, and after Ponti had led to the 125m mark, Krzysztof took on the pace until the last turn, his Swiss rival just 0.03 away, his sibling fourth just 0.2 further back.
It was neck-and-neck to the end wall, battle for the title over when defender Ponti pressed the pad 0.07sec ahead of Krzysztof, a blanket finish among a top 6 home all on 1:50s within 0.7 of each other granting Michal bronze just 0.13sec shy of gold and 0.15sec ahead of Estonia's Kregor Zirk in fourth.
Kozan Adds To Wasick's Gold For Poland
Justina Kozan delivered the last gold for the Polish hosts in Lublin after overhauling Spanish rivals Alba Vasquez and Emma Carrasco on freestyle to close the 400m medley on 4:28.56. Earlier in the session, Katarzyna Wasick gave the hosts their first gold of the day 6 curtain closer in the 50m free.
Vasquez and Carrasco punched a 2-3 finish for Spain in the 400IM:
Other day 6 Finals:
Craig Lord
Craig Lord
