2023 ACROPOLIS SWIM OPEN
The 2023 Acropolis Swim Open wrapped up from Athens, Greece tonight with additional meet records biting the dust.
We reported how South African Matt Sates produced a big-time personal best in the men’s 200m fly, establishing a new meet record of 1:56.34 for gold.
19-year-old Sates also took on the 400m free where he placed 2nd in a time of 3:52.10 behind winner Dimitrios Markos. Markos clocked a winning effort of 3:50.87 while Turkey’s Emir Batur Albayrak earned bronze in a mark of 3:53.00.
Sates’ countryman Pieter Coetze also nailed a new meet record while racing in the men’s 100m back. Coetze completed his trifecta of victories, producing a time of 52.96.
Splitting 25.65/27.31, Cal-bound Coetze’s 52.96 held a healthy advantage over runner-up Apostolos Christou of the host nation. Christou put up a mark of 53.42 while fellow Greek swimmer Georgio Sanoudakis rounded out the top 3 in 55.50.
This is Coetze’s second sub-53 100m back time this season. He already produced a lifetime best of 52.78 at April’s South African National Championships. That quicker outing ranks Coetze 4th in the world this season.
Kristian Gkolomeev registered a time of 22.03 to take the men’s 50m free this evening. Coetze was in that race as well, collecting silver in a mark of 22.20 while American Michael Andrew also landed on the podium in 22.30 for bronze.
Gkolomeev sneaks into the list of top 25 performers on the season, ranked 25th, while Andrew has already been as swift as 21.87 from April’s Pro Swim Series to rank 7th.
Kotryna Teterevkova of Lithuania was another competition record breaker, beating the field in the women’s 200m breaststroke. She touched in a result of 2:25.41, her fastest of the season and the 11th quickest of her career.
Georgia Damasioti of Greece landed on top of the podium in the women’s 200m fly, getting to the wall over 2 seconds ahead of her competitors. She notched a time of 2:10.93 to hack over a second off her previous lifetime best of 2:12.39 logged this past January.
Her performance puts the longstanding Greek national record on notice in this 2fly event. That standard remains at the 2:10.64 Vasiliki Angelopoulou put on the books way back in 2003.
Canadian Olympian Kylie Masse was another meet record producer on the evening, with the national record holder clocking a time of 59.40.
She represented the sole swimmer to get under the minute barrier, as Dutch record holder Kira Toussaint settled for silver in 1:00.76 while Kazakstahni swimmer Xenia Ignatova bagged bronze in 1:02.53.
Additional Winners
- Cyprus’ Kalia Antoniou earned the gold in the women’s 50m free, stopping the clock in a time of 25.24.
- The women’s 400m free saw Slovenian racer Katja Fain double up on her 200m free victory, earning gold in this longer event in 4:16.81.
- Sweden’s Erik Persson produced a new meet record en route to claiming gold in the men’s 200m breast. He hit a time of 2:09.44, just off his season-best of 2:09.35 registered at last month’s Bergen Swim Festival.
