Rouault led during the middle of the race but then fell behind
Germany's Christian Kubusch until the last of the 16 laps, when he was able to
overtake his rival to finish the race in 7 minutes, 48.28 seconds, a new meet
record.
Kubusch was 0.84 back in second, but still set a new German
record with his effort. Samuel Pizzetti of Italy was third.
Rouault admitted later he had felt a “bit tired” after winning
the 1,500 freestyle on Wednesday and finishing fifth in the 400 free on Monday.
French swimmer Alain Bernard won the 100 freestyle, the closest
race of the tournament so far. Bernard touched in 48.49 seconds, just 0.03
seconds faster than Evgeny Lagunov of Russia and 0.07 seconds ahead his
compatriot William Maynard.
“I was very strained during the heats and the semifinals and
surprisingly not at all before this final,” said Bernard, who holds the
European record of 47.12 seconds and finished behind Lagunov in the last
qualifier. “To win the race you also need a certain luck.” Anastasia Chaun of
Russia set a new meet record in the women's 200 breaststroke, finishing in
2:23.50. Sara Nordenstam of Norway trailed by 0.92 seconds and Rikke Moeller-Pedersen
of Denmark was third, 1.49 seconds slower than Chaun.
“I had never reckoned with a medal before the European Championships,”
said Chaun, who benefited from the absence of teammate and defending champion
Yulia Efimova, who is out with a shoulder injury.
In the women's 100 butterfly, world record holder Sarah Sjoestroem
of Sweden swam the fastest second lap of the race and rallied to win in 57.32
seconds, 0.08 seconds in front of Francesca Halsall of Britain. Another Swede, Therese
Alshammar, was third 0.48 seconds behind the winner.
Sjoestroem, who said she was surprised by the result because
her season leading up to the Europeans had not gone well, was third at the turn
behind Alshammar and Halsall.
It was the third medal of the tournament for the 20-year-old
Brit. She also won gold in the 100 freestyle and added a silver in the 4x100
freestyle relay event.
“Maybe I could have done better if I would have been more rested,”
Halsall said. “I knew that Therese Alshammar would got out very fast, and my
strength is the second lap.
I'm happy that I managed to catch her on the very last meters
of the race.” The 30th edition of the European championships is the first major
international event where competitors can no longer wear the neck-to-ankle
outfits that helped set dozens of world records in recent years.
In the diving pool, the women's 10-meter platform synchronized
event was won by Germany, with Christin Steuer and Nora Subschinski scoring
319.68 points. Iulia Prokopchuk and Alina Chaplenko of Ukraine were second with
306.30 and Britain's Monique Gladding and Megan Sylvester finished third with
300.66.
On Saturday, the men will race finals in the 50 breaststroke,
100 butterfly, 200 backstroke and the 4x200 freestyle relay. The women will
compete in the 50 backstroke and 200 and 1,500 freestyle finals.
