Swim
The World U23 silver medallist, Gergely Kiss, produced the best split of the final at the European Championships in Balikesir, clocking 3:01 for the 270m.
Kiss did not, however, log the quickest split of the weekend. That honour went to Alessio Crociani in the first semi-final as he hit a time of 2:59.
Nicola Azzano was the second fastest man in the water in the final with a 3:03. Esteban Basanta Fouz and Jan Diener then followed with a 3:04 split. Crociani was 6 seconds slower than his sem-final time as he produced a 3:05 to make him the fifth man to exit the water. The race winner, Ricardo Batista, was only a second behind.
In the women’s race, the champion Mathilde Gautier led the way in 3:18. In the second semi-final she had clocked 3:23 so she really stepped up in the final. Selina Klamt also managed a time of 3:18 in the final. In the same semi-final as Gautier, she swam a split of 3:24 so equally improved in the final.
Tilly Anema was the third fastest women in the final with a 3:20 split. Candice Denizot and Laura Holánszky then rounded out the top-5 splits in 3:21.
Bike
Having just missed breaking into the top-5 splits in the swim, Batista made no mistake on the bike. He ripped an 11:14 split over the 8km to seize control of the race and put his rivals on the back foot.
In the second semi-final, he had clocked a time of 11:49, which was the fastest of his heat by 17 seconds, as he broke away to take the win. In the final, he had some company as Lasse Nygaard Priester popped a split of 11:17 and Sebastian Wernersen clocked 11:18.
Wernersen had actually logged the best split of the semi-finals. In the first heat, he dropped an 11:34 split. Batista, though, was irrepressible on the bike throughout the weekend.
Alexis Lherieau managed a 11:21 split in the final. He had been the best cyclist in the third semi-final with a time of 11:42. Richard Murray then rounded out the top bike splits in the final with a time of 11:22.
Just as she had in the semi-finals, Anne Holm blasted a fast split on the bike in the final.
In the second semi-final, she had clocked 12:42 to ride herself into contention. She went 5 seconds better in the final as she hit a time of 12:37.
No one in the final actually managed to match Holm’s semi-final time. Jessica Fullagar and Tanja Neubert were the next quickest in 12:44 while Gautier produced a 12:46 split.
Sophia Green then managed a 12:47 split.
Run
Batista did not slow down on the run after his rip-roaring bike split. With a time of 4:54 over the 1.7km, he also claimed the fastest run of the final.
Priester, Murray and Baptiste Passemard all managed a split of 4:58, but no one could get close to Batista. Murray had also been the fastest runner in the first semi-final with a time of 5:07.
Hamish Reilly then rounded out the top-5 with a 5:02 split. In doing so, he ensured that the top-5 overall was made up entirely of the five fastest runners in the final.
One interesting point to note is that Emil Holm ran a time of 5:01 in the second semi-final. Having run a time that would have put him in the top-5, he clocked 5:04 in the final to end up in 6th.
In the women’s final, Jule Behrens and Alberte Kjaer Pedersen were the fastest runners as they clocked 5:31. Klamt almost matched them with a 5:33 split which was enough to seal the silver medal (and the U23 win).
Sara Guerrero Manso was the fourth fastest runner in 5:36 while Mathilde Gautier hit a time of 5:37. In doing so, Gautier became the only athlete to log top-5 splits in all three disciplines. With form like that across the board, her victory was very well-earned.
In contrast to the men’s event, the women’s run really picked up in the final.
Carina Reicht had produced the best split of the semi-finals with her 5:48 (in semi-final 2). With only two women’s semi-finals, though, the pressure on qualification was a little lighter than for the men which could explain the more relaxed approach to the run prior to the final.
