Zemanová Claims Third European Title in 200m Freestyle

Czech swimmer Barbora Zemanová has become European champion in the 200m freestyle for the third time in her career. In the final at the championships in Paris, she smashed her own national record by a full 74 hundredths of a second, clocking 1:54.38 — also a new European Championships record for the distance.

Fourth Title in the Long-Course Pool

The 26-year-old extended her winning streak in her signature event, having previously triumphed at the 2021 Europeans in Budapest and at the 2022 championships in Belgrade. This marks her fourth title in the 50m pool at the European Championships and her sixth medal overall in the event.

"That was the best swim of my life. The best-executed swim of my life. It's an incredible feeling," Zemanová said after the race. She admitted she felt extraordinarily strong during the swim and was especially proud of pulling off the race exactly as she had planned.

A Record-Breaking Finish

Thanks to a blistering finish, she dipped under the 1:55 barrier for the first time in her career. "Time means a great deal to us in swimming. My coach and I worked hard on the second half of the race — that's where the outcome is decided. I swam the third 50 metres in under 30 seconds — 29.6, which is incredible. The last 50 metres I did in under 29 seconds, something I've been working on for a long time. I did exactly what we set out to do," she said.

Having battled health issues in the past, Zemanová is especially thrilled with her golden hat-trick. "I never gave up. I knew it was in me. Not everything comes together right away. I found the right path, the right people, the right team. And suddenly everything started clicking. I'm now eight tenths of a second faster than I used to be," she noted.

Beating Her Main Rival

This was Zemanová's seventh 200m freestyle final at a major competition. Two years ago at the Paris Olympics, she finished sixth in this event. At this year's European Championships, she led comfortably throughout — from the heats, through the semifinal, all the way to the final battle for the title.

Her main rival was considered to be Dutch swimmer Marrit Steenbergen, who had won the 100m two days earlier (Zemanová finished seventh in that race). But in the 200m final, the Czech swimmer was fully in control, beating the Dutchwoman by 27 hundredths of a second. Britain's Freya Colbert took bronze.

Zemanová had already shown she was in top form earlier that morning, improving her own national record in the 100m butterfly heats to 57.43 seconds. She deliberately skipped the semifinal in that event, choosing instead to focus on the final of her main discipline.

Only Italy's Federica Pellegrini has more European Championship gold medals in the 200m freestyle, having won four times between 2009 and 2019. Watching from the stands was Zemanová's boyfriend, fencer Alexander Choupenitch, who became world champion in foil fencing less than three weeks ago. She says his success is a constant source of inspiration for her.

Other Results for the Czech Team

Miroslav Knedla will also be chasing a medal in Paris, having comfortably advanced to the final of the 50m freestyle. A second valuable trophy for the Czech team could arrive as early as Friday. In the semifinal, he clocked 24.2 seconds — just one hundredth off his own national record set that morning — and advanced in third place. Only Russian swimmers competing under neutral status, Pavel Samusenko and Kliment Kolesnikov, were faster than the Czech short-course vice-European champion.

For the second time in Paris, 19-year-old Italian Sara Curtis broke the world record in the 50m backstroke. On Wednesday, she clocked 26.63 seconds in the semifinal, then shaved off another seven hundredths in the final.

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Around Prague, based on reporting by seznamzpravy.cz