Swiss achieve good results in Antwerp

Nicole Zahnd on her way to a new Swiss record in the 200 metre freestyle race on Sunday Keystone

Swiss swimmers kept up their good performance on the last day of the European Championship by setting nine new Swiss records.

On Sunday, Nicole Zahnd swam to eighth place in the 200 metres freestyle by finishing the race in 1″59’35 and setting a new Swiss record for this distance.

It was the second time the 21-year-old managed to swim among the eight best after she had taken sixth place in the 400 metres freestyle on Saturday.

“I am really happy with the results of the championship as I have only achieved record times,” the Swiss champion said after the race. “Now I can really enjoy Christmas.”

Lorenz Liechti managed to repeat last year’s performance in Valencia and finished eighth in the 100 metres medley with a time of 55’35.

The 26-year-old swimmer from Huttwil set a Swiss record in all three runs and even beat his own personal record by 47 hundredth of a second.

Near miss

Dominique Diezi just missed out on a bronze medal when she swam to fourth place in the 50 metres backstroke on Saturday.

The 24-year-old swimmer from Zurich finished in 28’27 and missed the medal by only 48 hundredth of a second.

“I really enjoyed the final and I am happy about the otherwise hated fourth place,” Diezi said about her best ever performance in an international competition.

Karel Novy, who fetched the bronze medal in the 100 metres crawl twice in the past two years, did not really get into gear in Antwerp. He only managed to swim to seventh place.

“I was too nervous and made too many mistakes,” he said disappointedly after the race.

Great improvement

Remo Lütolf, on the other hand, improved significantly after his rather disappointing 21st place in the 100 metres breaststroke by setting a Swiss record with 27’27 in the 50 metres breaststroke race.

“After my disappointing performance I was surprised how well I swam in the semi-finals. But once I got to the finals I toyed with the idea of winning a medal, which explains why I risked everything,” he said.

Friday’s gold medal winner, Falvia Rigamonti, could not continue her winning streak and only came tenth in the 400 metres freestyle race on Saturday.

After the 21-year-old Swiss swimming star smashed her own short course record in the 800 metres freestyle with a time of 8’17″20, she was unable to repeat her performance and finished the 400 metres with a disappointing time of 4’12″01.

swissinfo with agencies