Day two of the annual Luxembourg Euro Meet unfolded tonight with one of the highest-profile races taking place in the men’s 200m breaststroke.
Olympic medalist Caspar Corbeau of the Netherlands was pitted against rising British Age Record holder Filip Nowacki, with the former out-touching the latter in tonight’s main event.
Former University of Texas Longhorn Corbeau stopped the clock at 2:09.29 to keep Nowacki at bay.
18-year-old Nowacki settled for silver in 2:09.96 while Ukraine’s Maksym Ovchinnikov rounded out the podium well behind in 2:12.73.
We knew this race would come down to the wire as Corbeau’s lifetime best sits at 2:07.73 and Nowacki’s PB is situated at 2:07.32 from the 2025 World Junior Championships. Nowacki’s performance there in Otopeni established a new European Junior Record.
On the women’s side, British Olympian and world champion Freya Colbert got it done for gold in the women’s 200m freestyle, stopping the clock at a rapid mark of 1:57.12.
That defeated the field by over two seconds, with Canada’s Leah Tigert cinching silver in 1:59.70 and England’s Sophie Benn bagging bronze in 2:00.60.
As for versatile Colbert, the 21-year-old’s lifetime best remains at the 1:55.06, which garnered the Brit a 4th-place finish in the event at the 2024 Olympic Games.
Additional Notes
Belgian Florine Gaspard was too quick to catch in the women’s 50m breast, turning in a time of 31.00. That narrowly held off Kara Hanlon and Anna Morgan, with the British swimmers hitting times of 31.03 and 31.05, respectively.
The men’s 50m breast saw Germany’s Melvin Imoudu cinch gold in a time of 27.14. That was enough to hold off Italian Federico Poggio wh0 settled for silver in 27.22 followed by Corbeau who also landed on the podium in 27.36, good enough for bronze.
British swimmer Ciara Schlosshan registered a time of 58.34 to reap gold in the women’s 100m fly event. That denied Danish ace Helena Rosendahl Bach a second gold, snagging silver in 58.42. Danish national age group record holder Martine Damborg hit 58.46, good enough for bronze.
Olympic multi-gold medalist Matt Richards reaped the top spot in the men’s 200m free, posting 1:47.23 as a respectable in-season effort. Behind him was Italy’s Carlos D’Ambrosio and his time of 1:48.03 and teammate Alessandro Ragaini who hit 1:48.85.
Belgium’s Florine Gaspard struck gold in the women’s 50m free, turning a time of 24.69. That represented the sole time of the field under the 25-second barrier. Poland’s Kornelia Fiedkiewicz secured silver in 25.00 and Theodora Taylor of Great Britain rounded out the podium in 25.25.