BLACKSBURG – The Virginia Tech swim & dive team made waves with several notable performances at the European Championships this past week in Rome, Italy. Seven Hokies competed in the meet, setting a total of seven national records.
"The European Championships were a big step forward for our program," said Virginia Tech head coach Sergio Lopez Miro. "We had young swimmers that were able to compete in semi-finals, finals, and break national records. It showed that the future is bright for them on their national teams and our program as well."
Luis Dominguez Calonge, Mario Molla Yanes and Carles Coll Marti earned national records for Spain in both the 100-meter freestyle relay prelims and finals, enroute to a fourth-place finish. Dominguez Calonge's split in the prelims was the second fastest of the morning at 47.95. The rising sophomore also made a statement in the 100-meter freestyle, becoming the first Spaniard to finish in under 49 seconds with a time of 48.98, marking his first national record.
Teammate Coll Marti posted more records of his own in the prelims of the 100-meter mixed free relay, leading off with the third fastest time in Spain's history (49.02). Alongside freshman Carmen Weiler Sastre, the Spanish duo secured another national record in the finals of the relay with a time of 3:27.52.
In the 200-meter freestyle relay, Bulgarian native Antani Ivanov produced two national records, leading off with a time of 1:49.00. Incoming freshman Fanni Gyurinovics also represented Hungary in the 100-meter mixed freestyle relay and Carla Hurtado represented Spain in the 4x100-meter medley relay and the 100-meter butterfly.
Results
Men's 200 Freestyle
Prelims: 16th - Luis Dominguez Calonge (1:48.34)
Semi-final: 16th - Luis Dominguez Calonge (1:49.48)
Men's 400 Freestyle
Prelims: 13th - Luis Dominguez Calonge (3:52.35)
Women's 200 Backstroke
Prelims: 9th - Carmen Weiler Sastre (2:12.46)
Semi-final: 12th - Carmen Weiler Sastre (2:11.78)
Men's 200 Backstroke
Prelims: 12th - Nico Garcia Saiz (1:59.46)
Semi-final: 10th - Nico Garcia Saiz (1:58.68)
Men's 50 Butterfly
Prelims: 11th - Mario Molla Yanes (23.54)
Semi-final: 11th - Mario Molla Yanes (23.61)
Men's 100 Butterfly
Prelims: 17th - Mario Molla Yanes (52.68)
Swim-off: 1st - Mario Molla Yanes (52.07)
Semi-final: 16th - Mario Molla Yanes (53.13)
Men's 200 Butterfly
Prelims: 16th - Antani Ivanov (1:58.87)
Semi-final: 12th - Antani Ivanov (1:57.90)
Men's 200 Individual Medley
Prelims: 2nd - Carles Coll Marti (2:00.56)
Semi-final: 6th - Carles Coll Marti (1:59.66)
Final: 7th - Carles Coll Marti (1:59.96)