Israeli Women Crush 4×200 Free Relay National Record En Route to First-Ever Euro Relay Title
By Riley Overend on SwimSwam
2024 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
June 17-23, 2024
LCM (50 meters)
Belgrade, Serbia
Prelims: 9:30 am local time
Finals: 5:30 pm local time
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The Israeli women’s 4×200 freestyle relay team obliterated its national record by more than seven seconds with a winning time of 7:51.83 at the 2024 European Championships, capturing the country’s first-ever relay medal of any color at the meet.
Rising star Anastasia Gorbenko led off with a personal-best 1:56.74, taking down the Israeli 200 free record of 1:57.87 that Andrea Murez posted in 2021. Gorbenko dropped more than a second off her previous-best 1:58.18 from the 2023 World Championships.
Daria Golovaty (1:57.94) and Ayla Spitz (1:59.07) handled the middle legs of the relay, giving Israel a three-second advantage heading into the final leg. Lea Polonsky clocked a 1:58.08 split to secure the victory, holding off a ferocious 1:55.87 anchor by 18-year-old Hungarian Nikolett Padar. Padar had already qualified 2nd for the 100 free final (54.17) earlier in the session.
Israel’s final time of 7:51.83 demolished its old national record of 7:59.02 from the 2023 World Championships, which qualified the country for the Paris Olympics next month. Spitz was the new addition to the lineup this year, replacing Murez after wrapping up her NCAA career at Northwestern in March.
Hungary earned the runner-up finish in 7:52.92 while Turkey took bronze in 8:01.58, less than a tenth ahead of Germany (8:01.67).
WOMEN’S 4×200 FREESTYLE RELAY – FINAL
World Record: 7:37.50 – Australia (2023)
European Record: 7:45.51 – Great Britain (2009)
Championship Record: 7:50.53 – Italy (2014)
Top 8:
Israel – 7:51.83
Hungary – 7:52.92
Turkey – 8:01.58
Germany – 8:01.67
Slovenia – 8:06.93
Austria – 8:12.13
Slovakia – 8:20.03
Armenia – 8:53.63
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