Russia dominates, Kolesnikov, Kesely with 8 medals apiece, Milak wins two in 12mins
With five more titles on the closing day, Russia cemented its top position at the LEN European Junior Swimming Championships – a trend lasting since 2012. Kliment Kolesnikov is the man of the meet with 8 medals (6 golds, 2 silvers), while Hungary’s Ajna Kesely also amassed 8 among the women (5-1-2). She earned 4 individual titles, just like teammate Kristof Milak, the most in the field, who added two on Sunday by winning the 200m free and 100m fly in a span of 12 minutes.
The last day saw some outstanding swimmers adding golds to their respective collections. Among the men, Russia’s Vladislav Gerasimenko completed the 50-100m breaststroke double, compatriot Daria Vaskina did the same in the women’s backstroke – she completed the Russian swept of all six backstroke titles –, and Belarus’s Anastasia Shkurdai paired the 50-100m crowns in butterfly.
Hungary’s Kristof Milak did something truly outstanding: he clinched the 200m free and the 100m fly golds in a span of 12 minutes. He won the 400m free and the 200m fly earlier, regarding individual titles he tops the ranks.
The two remaining medley titles on offer went to Russia. Maksim Stupin came first in the men’s 400m IM (he had a silver in the 200m) while Anastasiia Sorokina conquered the 200m IM among the women. Bjoern Seeliger delivered the first title here for Sweden, while Kotryna Teterevkova won the 100m breast and the first gold for Lithuania.
The Hungarian girls won a tremendous battle over Germany in the 4x200m free, Ajna Kesely avenged her 200m individual loss to Isabelle Maria Gose by out-touching her rival by 0.14sec – it was the Magyar team’s 12th gold, their best-ever performance in the history of the junior Europeans.
As expected, the Russians landed the last title in the men’s medley relay. This was their 5th relay win (out of 8) and those medals rocketed their best swimmers to the top of the individual ranks: Kliment Kolesnikov piled 8 (6-2-0), Andrei Minakov had 7 (5-2-0) and Vladislav Gerasimenko finished with 4 golds.
Among the women Anna Kesely compiled another brilliant tally of 8 medals (5-1-2), her career total stands at 19 (15-2-2), probably the best ever in the history of the junior Europeans.
Russia maintained its dominance both in the medal standings and the Team Trophy, a trend lasting since 2012. While Hungary came second in the medal ranks, the trophy saw Great Britain finishing runner-up and Italy coming third – the Italians collected an amazing 11 bronze medals besides 4 silvers though no titles this time. The Germans also made the top 5, they left Helsinki with 11 silver medals.
The junior Europeans were a great hit once again, next year Kazan (RUS) will welcome the continent’s best age-group swimmers.
Champions, Day 5
Men
50m free: Bjoern Seeliger (SWE) 22.27
200m free: Kristof Milak (HUN) 1:47.19
100m breast: Vladislav Gerasimenko (RUS) 1:01.36
100m fly: Kristof Milak (HUN) 51.78
400m IM: Maksim Stupin (RUS) 4:16.79
4x100m medley: Russia 3:35.58
(Kliment Kolesnikov, Vladislav Gerasimenko, Andrei Minakov, Daniil Markov)
Women
100m back: Daria Vaskina (RUS) 59.90
100m breast: Kotryna Teterevkova (LTU) 1:08.03
50m fly: Anastasiya Shkurdai (BLR) 26.44
200m IM: Anastasiia Sorokina (RUS) 2:14.38
4x200m free: Hungary 8:02.24
(Fanni Fabian, Petra Barocsai, Blana Berecz, Anna Kesely)
Medal standings
| RUS | 18 | 12 | 4 | 34 |
| HUN | 12 | 2 | 5 | 19 |
| GBR | 6 | 3 | 4 | 13 |
| ISR | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| BLR | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| GER | 1 | 11 | 4 | 16 |
| ROU | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| LTU | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| SWE | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| ITA | 0 | 4 | 11 | 15 |
| POL | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| DEN | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| GRE | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| FRA | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| LAT | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| NOR | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| NED | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| SUI | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| TUR | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| AUT | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| MLD | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| SLO | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| UKR | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Team Trophy – top 6
- Russia 1445
- Great Britain 956
- Italy 924
- Hungary 908
- Germany 711
- France 515
For detailed results and free live streaming please visit www.len.eu
Press release from LEN, photos courtesy of Deepbluemedia/Andrea Masini
