VIENNA, 10 December 2004 — Austria’s Markus Rogan crowned himself double European short course swimming champion yesterday, winning the 200m backstroke and the 200m individual medley.
The 22-year-old triumphed in the backstroke final in 1 minute 51.24 seconds, outpacing Slovenia’s Blaz Medvesek (1:52.39) and Russian Yewgeni Aleshin (1:53.71).
Just over an hour later, Rogan took out the individual medley in 1:55.15, edging out Hungarian Laszlo Cseh (1:55.36) in a close battle. Lithuania’s Vitautas Janusaitis came third in 1:57.45.
The 2004 Austrian Athlete of the Year indeed managed to meet the home crowd’s expectations and added: “I just wanted to prove that I am a winner.”
In other day one action, Britain’s Mark Foster celebrated a great comeback win from a shoulder injury that forced him to withdraw from the Athens Olympics by winning gold in the 50m freestyle. Foster, who is trained by former 110m hurdles Olympic champion Colin Jackson, cruised to victory in 21.50 seconds, beating Dutchman Mark Veens (21.72) and Spaniard Eduard Lorente (21.75).
