Estonian swimmers on winning form in London
The final day of the AP Race International in London brought triumph for three of Estonia's top swimmers.
Daniel Zaitsev and Eneli Jefimova both won their events, while Maari Randväli set a new domestic record.
Another Estonian competitor, Ralf Tribuntsov, had at Monday morning's heats set a new Estonian record in the men's 50-meter butterfly, with a time of 23.22, but opted not to compete in the final. Tribuntsov said he was both preparing for August's European Championships and nursing a shoulder niggle which has been bothering him in recent weeks.
This teamwork also left the way open for Zaitsev, who previously held the Estonian record and who had qualified second for the final, to go on to win the evening race in what was a landmark achievement for him. The 28-year-old clocked 23.25, a PB over the distance and stroke for the first time in seven years. The time was also a mere three hundredths of a second behind Tribuntsov's national record from the morning.
Britain's Joshua Gammon took second place in 23.49, while Nigerian swimmer Abduljabar Adama finished third in 23.56.
Just minutes later, Jefimova was victorious in the women's 50-meter breaststroke, putting in a season-best time of 30.39. Behind the European champion came Finland's Veera Kivirinta (30.59) and American Piper Enge (30.66).
Finally, Randväli also set a historic milestone by posting a new Estonian junior record in the 100-meter butterfly, with a time of 59.96. Randväli improved the previous record of 1:00.12, set by Emily-Pärli Jäärats at the beginning of March, by 16 hundredths of a second, and placed third in the race itself.
Randväli is only the second Estonian female swimmer ever to break the one-minute barrier in that event. The Estonian record still belongs to Triin Aljand, who swam 59.00 back in 2009. The last time an Estonian woman swimmer had completed the distance in under a minute was not long after that, in 2011.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Kristjan Kallaste
