Hungary top medals table at Euro swimming

Debrecen (Hungary) – Hungarian swimming stars Laszlo Cseh and Katinka Hosszu won their third gold medals of the week to ensure the country finished on top of the medals table at the close of the 31th European Swimming Championships here.

Hosszu’s win came in the 200m butterfly final where she timed 2:07.28 minutes to narrowly beat teammate Zsuzsanna Jakabos (2:07.86), and Sweden’s Martina Granstrom (2:08.22). Later, Cseh won the 400m individual medley in 4:12.17 minutes, beating compatriot David Verraszto (4:14.2) and Ioannis Drymonakos of Greece (4:14.41) into the silver and bronze positions, reported Xinhua.

Germany and France also picked up two golds apiece Sunday. Britta Steffen won the 50m freestyle in 24.37 seconds, with Hinkelien Schreuder of the Netherlands (24.78), and Nery Mantey Niangkouara of Greece (24.93) winning silver and bronze respectively.

The German women’s 4x100m medley relay team (Jenny Mensing, Sarah Poewe, Alexandra Wenk, Britta Steffen) won gold with a time of 3:58.43 minutes. Italy (Arianna Barbieri, Ilaria Bianchi, Chiara Boggiatto, Alice Mizzau; 4:01.92) and Sweden (Therese Svendsen, Joline Hostman, Martina Granstrom, Nathalie Lindborg; 4: 05.58) also made the podium.

In the women’s 400m freestyle final France’s Coralie Balmy won with a time of 4:05.31 minutes beating Mireia Belmonte Garcia of Spain (4:05.45) and Ophelie Cyriell Etienne, also of France (4:07. 47). Frederick Bousquet then won the 50m freestyle in 21.80 minutes, pipping Stefan Nystrand of Sweden (22.04) and Ukraine’s Andriy Govorov (22.18) to the gold medal.

Hungary’s final medal count was nine golds, 10 silvers, and seven bronzes, ahead of Germany (8, 6, 3), and Italy (6, 8, 4). France, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Greece, Israel, and the Czech Republic placed fourth to tenth.