Croatian swimmers failed to qualify for semifinals on the first day of the European Championships in Paris, but Jere Hribar set a personal best in the 50m butterfly, and the 4x200m freestyle relay improved the Croatian record.
On the first day of swimming competitions at the European Aquatics Championships in Paris, Croatian representatives competed in three events. Although none of them managed to secure direct qualification for the semifinals, the day was highlighted by Jere Hribar's personal best and a new Croatian record in the men's 4x200m freestyle relay.
The closest to a spot among the top 16 was 22-year-old Jere Hribar from Split in the 50m butterfly. Hribar swam a new personal best with a time of 23.35 seconds, six hundredths faster than his previous best in this event. Despite this, it was only enough for 19th place in the overall qualifying standings.
However, Hribar earned the status of first reserve for the semifinals scheduled for Monday afternoon. He was just four hundredths behind the last swimmer to qualify, France's Nikita Baez. Adding to the hope is the fact that four Russian swimmers were faster than Hribar, and according to the rules, only two from each country can compete in the semifinals. The fastest qualifying time was set by France's Maxime Grousset with 22.49.
Three other Croatian swimmers competed in the same event. Nikola Miljenić achieved his best time of the year with 23.75, placing 35th. Maro Miknić also swam his best result of the season (24.14), earning him 51st position. Luka Kmetić fell short of his personal best, swimming 24.46, and finished in 62nd place.
Filip Mujan competed in the 100m breaststroke and swam his best time of the year, 1:01.72. In an extremely competitive field of 71 swimmers, that was enough for 44th place. To qualify for the semifinals, a time of at least 1:00.13 was needed, which was achieved by Norway's Charlie Egeland.
Later in the day, Mujan also competed in the 4x200m freestyle relay, alongside Niko Janković, Franko Grgić, and Karlo Perčinić. The Croatian relay team finished 14th in the qualifiers with a time of 7:16.57, which was enough for a significant achievement-they improved the previous Croatian record in this event, which stood at 7:22.83. However, this time was still not enough for the final, with the Germans being the fastest in the qualifiers with a time of 7:04.83.
