She was the big favorite on the starting block and did not succumb to that pressure: Liesette Bruinsma won the ‘queen number’ at the European Championships.
The blind swimmer from Wommels raced to gold in the 100 meter freestyle, the discipline in which she has hardly been beaten in her class for years. Bruinsma has held the world record since August 2018 with 1.05.14 minutes.
Working towards the Paralympic Games in Paris, she approached that top time twice on Thursday. In the series, 23-year-old Bruinsma achieved 1.05.20. This made it clear that she would be difficult to beat in Madeira. In the other series, the Ukrainian Maryna Piddubna recorded the second time with 1.10.92. Anastasia Pagonis, who was swimming outside competition (the American Bruinsma was the boss twice in Tokyo) was disqualified.
In the final, Bruinsma was again the best after the start. However, she was not the first to turn after 50 meters. Anastasia Shevchenko, who played under the neutral flag, scored 31.61. De Wommelse was 0.42 seconds behind. However, she made up for that after the turning point. Bruinsma finished in 1.05.42, while the Russian fell off course and only finished after 1.11.31. She also had to let Daria Lukianenko (1.07.51, silver) and Piddubna (1.09.48) go ahead.
It is Bruinsma’s 32nd medal at a major tournament. She had already won silver twice at the European Championships.
Tags: Liesette Bruinsma Wommels swims gold European Championships approaches world record
