Jere Hribar and Vlaho Nenadić have secured their spots in the semifinals of the 100-meter freestyle at the European Championships in Paris. Hribar set a new Croatian record, while Vili Sivec and Toni Dragoja also competed, achieving personal bests.
Croatian swimmers Jere Hribar and Vlaho Nenadić advanced to the semifinals of the 100-meter freestyle on Tuesday at the European Swimming Championships in Paris. Hribar did so in impressive fashion, also breaking the Croatian record in the process.
In the heats, Hribar clocked a time of 47.80 seconds, which was the second-fastest time of the qualifying round and a new Croatian best in the event. This improved upon the previous record of 47.93 seconds. The fastest qualifier was Romanian swimmer David Popovici with a time of 47.13.
Vlaho Nenadić, a member of the Jug Swimming Club, qualified for the semifinals with the 12th-fastest time in the heats. He completed the 100-meter distance in 48.42 seconds. The club made no secret of their delight at this achievement. "And now, even stronger! Bravo, Vlaho!", the Jug Swimming Club said.
Two other Croatian swimmers competed in the morning heats. Vili Sivec finished 28th with a personal best of 49.17 seconds, while Toni Dragoja was 21st with a time of 48.58, also a career-best performance. However, these times were not enough to advance among the top 16.
Franko Grgić failed to qualify for the final of the 800-meter freestyle. He finished eighth in the heats with a time of 8:00.45, significantly slower than his best performance in this event, which stands at 7:45.19. The fastest qualifier was German swimmer Johannes Liebamann with a time of 7:41.87.
The semifinals of the 100-meter freestyle are scheduled for today at 7:32 PM, and will be broadcast on HRT 2.
"In such competition, this is a huge success. The afternoon semifinal is scheduled for 7:32 PM on HRT 2! Bravo!!!!", the Jug Swimming Club wrote on social media.
