Roos Vanotterdijk Has Highs And Lows On Eventful Day In Geneva
Roos Vanotterdijk experienced the highs and lows of sport at the Geneva International Challenge as she set a meet record and twice topped the podium while also being DQd.
Vanotterdijk was a clear winner in the 50 fly, the Belgian the only woman inside 27secs in 26.40 ahead of Lili-Rose Berthelot (27.05) and Sara Curtis (27.15).
Curtis and Vanotterdijk returned 10 minutes later for the 50 back final with the Italian getting the win in 28.41 with the Belgian DQd for a false start after posting 28.47 that would have seen her to second. Instead, Anita Gastaldi and Rafaela Gomes Azevedo were next home in 28.64 and 29.27 respectively.
After her backstroke DQ, Vanotterdijk dusted herself down and returned for the 100 fly final in which she set a meet mark in prelims in 58.73, 0.11 inside Elena Di Liddo’s 58.84 from 2019.
Sara Curtis: Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala/DeepBlue Media
The 20-year-old led throughout to post a winning time of 58.80 with Gastaldi second once more in 59.25 with Bertholet taking her second medal of the day in 1:00.06.
Curtis and Vanotterdijk will meet once more in the 50 free final after posting the two fastest times of 25.24 and 25.39 respectively in the semis.
Olympic bronze medallist Roman Mityukov also set a meet mark in the 200m backstroke.
Mityukov led throughout to win in 1:56.79, 0.6 inside his record of 1:57.39 set back in 2021. The Swiss was the only man inside 2mins ahead of Michele Lamberti (2:00.54) and Simon Clusman (2:01.86).
Mityukov was fourth into the 50 free final in 23.08 with Sergio de Celis Montalban heading the semis in 22.62.
The men’s 50 fly was a tight affair with Federico Burdisso touching 0.03 ahead of Dean Fearn in 23.86 to 23.89.
The Italian returned for the 100 to complete the fly double as he pulled away on the second 50 to stop the clock 52.86, well clear of Amaury Albar who posted 53.39 for second with Lamberti and Jamie Ingram sharing third in 53.58.
Tomer Shuster took the 50 back in 25.41, edging out Scott Gibson (25.53) with Ivan Martinez Sota third in 25.96.
Roman Mityukov: Photo Courtesy: Deepbluemedia
Anna Pirovano set a meet record in the 400IM. The Italian was ahead by the 250m mark and came home in 4:45.79, 0.79 inside the previous mark of 4:46.58 set by Zsuzsanna Jakabos in 2016. Laura Cabanes Garzas followed her home in 4:47.74.
Carlos Garach Benito was the only man inside 4mins in the 400 free, the Spaniard winning in 3:53.91 while Aiden Moy won the 200IM in 2:05.12 and Mario Mendez Pugi topped the 1500 in 15:30.77.
Tomer Shuster took the 50 back in 25.41, edging out Scott Gibson (25.53) with Ivan Martinez Sota third in 25.96.
Lucrezia Mancini won the 200m breaststroke in 2:31.23 while Angela Martinez Guillen topped the 800 free in 8:42.02.
Nayara Pineda Lopez edged out Spanish teammate Jimena Ruiz Sanchez in the 50m breaststroke by the slimmest of margins, winning in 31.72 to 31.73. Francesco Pennetta won the men’s race in 28.24.
