MADRID, 13 May 2004 — Italy’s Filippo Magnini caused a ripple on the third day of the European swimming championships here yesterday when he denied Olympic champion Pieter Van den Hoogenband gold in the men’s 100m freestyle.
Magnini, securing his first major title at the age of 22, won in a personal best time of 48.87sec with van den Hoogenband clocking 49.33.
Van den Hoogenband was by no means downcast at failing to add to his previous wins in the men’s feature event in Istanbul in 1999 and Berlin a year later.
“It’s never a good feeling to be beaten but I knew it could happen. Last week I trained hard and now I feel tired and not at my best,” said the only man to break the 48sec barrier for the distance.
The women’s 100m freestyle fell to France’s Malia Metella, who made the most of the twin absence of Dutch swimmer Inge De Bruijn and Germany’s Franziscka van Almsick. Metella, 22, won in 54.46s with De Bruijn’s compatriot Marleen Veldhuis second in 54.86. Greece’s Nery Mantey Niangkouara was next in 55.05.
The locals had something to cheer about in the rain with victory for Erika Villaecija in the women’s 800m freestyle.
