Not only were world records set in the distance freestyle events (250m, 500m, and 1000m races) by the heavyweights of the ice swimming world (Andrei Enache, Alisa Fatum, and Andreas Waschburger) at the IISA 1st European Championship in Oradea, Romania this past weekend, but very fast swimming and world records were also set by the sprint freestylers.

29-year-old Ludivine Blanc from France [shown above] set the 50m freestyle world record, breaking her own record that she set at the IISA 5th World Championship in Samoëns, France last year. Blanc’s new standard of 28.40 broke her previous best time of 28.85. Simona Andreea Chiru of Romania [shown above on right] placed second in 29.74.

In the 100m freestyle, 19-year-old Romanian Chiru not only took top honors, but also set a world record of 1:03.63, coincidentally breaking the old record of 1:04.42 held by Blanc that was set at the IISA 5th World Championship in 2023. The ubiquitous Alisa Fatum finished second in the 100m and fifth in the 50m race.

On the men’s side of the 50m race, Michal Perl from Chotomów, Poland [shown above on left] touched out fellow Polish teammate Michał Jagiełło [shown above on right] by 0.07 seconds with others (Jonas Mathiasen, Toni Anastasov, Vladimir Romaniuc, and Mihail Danev) only 0.2 seconds behind. It was by far the closest race of the Championship.

The men’s 100m freestyle was another close race with 28-year-old Filip Kolodziejski from Zielona Góra, Poland finishing in 55.74 to 31-year-old Dan Wallace‘s 56.05.

50m Freestyle Results – Top 7 Men

1. Michal Perl (28) 26.02
2. Michał Jagiełło (34) 26.09
3. Jonas Mathiasen (18) 26.11
4. Toni Anastasov (19) 26.14
5. Vladimir Romaniuc (19) 26.18
6. Mihail Danev (19) 26.23
7. Cristian Virgil Tranulea (24) 27.08

50m Freestyle Results – Top 8 Women

1. Ludivine Blanc (29) 28.40
2. Simona Andreea Chiru (19) 29.74
3. Marta Piasecka (33) 30.42
4. Lili May Mustoe (22) 31.17
5. Alisa Fatum (29) 31.30
6. Iga Olszanowska (43) 31.66
7. Franziska Partheymüller (28) 31.90
8. Janneke Harmsen Bakker (47) 32.29

100m Freestyle Results – Top 8 Men

1. Filip Kolodziejski (28) 55.74
2. Dan Wallace (31) 56.05
3. Virgile Deage (25) 56.61
4. Michal Tomaszowski (21) 57.36
5. Mihail Danev (19) 57.40
6. Andrei Enache (19) 58.15
7. Jonas Mathiasen (18) 58.97
8. Luka Turk (38) 59.49

100m Freestyle Results – Top 5 Women

1. Simona Andreea Chiru (19) 1:03.63
2. Alisa Fatum (29) 1:05.31
3. Katie Irving (32) 1:10.83
4. Julie Broeggler (31) 1:12.61
5. Weronika Kabut (30) 1:12.84

Open Turns versus Flip Turns

I am wondering out loud about one possible reason for all the world records set by the fastest swimmers at the IISA 1st European Championship. Could it be that the fast swimmers benefit from swimming in a 50m long course pool? Is it possible that they were able to better maintain their speed and momentum more efficiently over 50 meters, compared to making open turns in a 25m short course pool?

Typically, elite swimmers swim faster in a 25m short course pool compared to a 50m long course pool – in non-ice swimming competitions – because more flip turns and streamlined breakouts are utilized. That is, there are 3 flip turns and 3 breakouts in a 25m short course pool in the 100m freestyle compared to only 1 flip turn and 1 breakout in a 50m long course pool in warm pool temperatures. But because open turns are required in ice swimming competitions, this takes away the flip turn advantage of racing in a short course pool.

Conclusion of the IISA 1st European Championship

The Championships concluded with 320 swimmers from 27 countries from Albania, Cyprus, Great Britain, Lithuania, Portugal, Turkey, Andorra. Czech Republic. Greece, Luxembourg, Romania, Ukraine, Armenia, Denmark, Hungary, Malta, Russia, Austria, Estonia, Iceland, Moldova, San Marino, Azerbaijan, Faroe Islands, Ireland, Monaco, Serbia, Belarus, Finland, Israel, Montenegro, Slovakia, Belgium, France, Italy, Isle of Man, Netherlands, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Spain, Bulgaria, Germany, Latvia, Norway, Sweden, Croatia, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein, Poland, and Switzerland participating.

The water temperature ranged from 3.9°C to 4.4°C throughout the events that were streamed live on the IISA YouTube TV channel (watch here).

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