World 25-person pool: The Greek team is ready for distinction in Melbourne

With its three presumed top athletes, Greece is participating in the 16th World Swimming Championships in a 25-meter pool, which begins in the early hours of Tuesday (12/13) in Melbourne and will end on Sunday, December 18. The European champion in the 50-person pool Apostolos Christou, the 5th Olympian Kristian Golomeev and the 25-person specialist Andreas Vazaios will compete in the Australian metropolis, aiming first at qualifying for the finals and then at the first Greek medal in the nearly 30-year history of the event.

All three representatives of our country enter the battle from day one. And if for Golomeev, his participation in the 50m qualifiers. butterfly is just a… warm-up in view of the good competition (50m freestyle), the other two go directly “into the deep”. Vazaios starts with the 200m. mixed individual, an event in which he is a two-time European champion in the small pool and was fourth last year, at the Abu Dhabi World Cup. The athlete of Alexandros Nikolopoulos has the third best performance among the participants with 1:51.15, behind only American Shane Casas (1:50.37) and Japanese Olympic champion Daiya Seto (1:50.66). The final is held on the morning of Tuesday 13/12 (in the 200m events there is no semi-final and the eight fastest in the preliminary heats advance directly to the final).

On Thursday (15/12), Andreas Vazaios has entered two events, the qualifiers of which are held approximately half an hour apart. At 100m. mixed, where last year he was sixth, he has the sixth performance with 51.54, while in the 200m. butterfly (where he was crowned European champion in 2019) has the 10th time with 1:51.35. Finally, on Saturday 12/17, the champion of OF Nea Ionia will “fall” in the 400m. mixed individual, where he starts with the eighth performance (4:03.37).

For his part, Apostolos Christou enters the 100m tomorrow. backstroke with the 7th performance (49.87) and his expectations reach at least the qualification to the final on Wednesday (14/12), which he also achieved in last year’s event, when he took seventh place. The big names of the race are the American Olympic champion Ryan Murphy, the Romanian Robert-Andrei Glinda (who also has the fastest time), the Italian Lorenzo Mora and the Canadian Javier Acevedo, while the Italian world and European champion in the 50m, Tomas, is not participating Czech.

The swimmer of Panos Velenza has very good chances of distinction in the 50m as well. backstroke, starting on Thursday 12/15. In this event, in which he was eighth in Abu Dhabi, Christou starts with the fourth best performance (22.87), behind Murphy (22.53), Dylan Carter of Trinidad & Tobago (22.72) and Glinda (22.74).

Golomeev at 50m. butterfly has the 30th performance among the participants with 23.14, but his own attention is focused on the 50m. free, starting on Friday 12/16. There he has the sixth time with 21.00, but his personal – and Panhellenic – record is 20.75, a time that is able to give him a place on the podium, despite the fact that big names are participating, such as the British Ben Proud (world champion in the 50 last summer), the Australian 100m Olympic champion. Kyle Chalmers, the Dutch Tom De Boer, the Hungarian Sebastian Szabo, but also Dylan Carter.

As is usually the case in the 25-person pool, several big names in the pool are absent from the event, including Caleb Dressel, Katie Ledecky, Ariarne Titmuss, Christoph Millack and Sarah Siestrem. Still, the standard is expected to be quite high, as hosts Australia and the USA field big and strong teams, while Japan, China and Canada will also have strong teams. Blocked Russia remains out of the competition, of course, while most European countries chose – for financial reasons – to send a few swimmers. Among the highlights of the event, the return of the British Adam Peaty, but also of the Australian Emma McKeon, who has not competed at an international level since her triumphant appearance at the Tokyo Olympics. In total, 720 athletes from 154 countries are expected to participate.

The institution of the World Championship in a 25-man pool started in 1993 in Palma de Mallorca, but this is the first time that it “travels” to Australia (which, of course, has hosted three World Aquatic Championships in the past). Greece has been represented in all competitions, while hosting the 2000 OAKA, but has not managed to win a medal. In 2006 in Shanghai, Romanos Alifantis finished second in the 100m final. breaststroke, but it was canceled for irregular swimming, while in 2008 Giannis Drymonakos climbed to the third step of the podium in the 400m. individual medley, but his medal was stripped a short time later, as he was penalized for using banned substances. Last year in Abu Dhabi, in an event that was normally scheduled for 2020 but was postponed by a year due to the pandemic, Andreas Vazaios was briefly off the podium in the 200m. mixed individual, but the fourth place he took is the best for our country in a World 25-person pool.

The preliminaries are held daily at dawn for Greece, while the semi-finals and finals start at 10:30 am.

The schedule of matches (in Greek time):

TUESDAY 13/12

02:05 400m. freestyle (C) -Qualifiers-

02:34 100m. backstroke (C) -Qualifiers-

02:52 100m. backstroke (A) -Preliminaries-

03:08 50m. butterfly (C) -Preliminaries-

03:20 50m. butterfly (A) -Preliminaries-

03:40 200m. mixed individual (C) -Qualifiers-

03:59 200m. mixed individual (A) -Qualifiers-

04:18 4X100m. freestyle (C) -Qualifiers-

04:29 4X100m. freestyle (A) -Preliminaries-

04:39 1,500m. freestyle (A) -Slow rows-

10:35 400m. free (C) -FINAL-

10:45 50m. butterfly (C) -Semifinals-

10:55 50m. butterfly (A) -Semifinals-

11:11 200m. mixed individual (C) -FINAL-

11:19 200m. mixed individual (A) -FINAL-

11:27 100m. backstroke (C) -Semifinals-

11:38 100m. backstroke (A) -Semifinals-

11:55 1,500m. freestyle (A) -Quick sequence-

12:22 4X100m. free (C) -FINAL-

12:32 4X100m. free (A) -FINAL-

WEDNESDAY 14/12

02:05 4X50m. mixed team mixed -Qualifiers-

02:19 800m. freestyle (C) -Slow Rows-

02:40 100m. freestyle (C) -Qualifiers-

03:03 100m. freestyle (A) -Preliminaries-

03:32 100m. breaststroke (C) -Preliminaries-

03:52 100m. breaststroke (A) -Preliminaries-

04:13 4X200m. freestyle (C) -Qualifiers

10:35 4X50m. mixed team mixed -FINAL-

10:42 800m. freestyle (C) -Quick Row-

10:57 100m. freestyle (C) -Semifinals-

11:08 100m freestyle (A) -Semifinals-

11:25 100m. backstroke (C) -FINAL-

11:32 100m. backstroke (A) -FINAL-

11:45 100m. breaststroke (C) -Semifinals-

11:57 100m. breaststroke (A) -Semifinals-

12:14 50m. butterfly (C) -FINAL-

12:20 50m. butterfly (A) -FINAL-

12:32 4X200m. free (C) -FINAL-

THURSDAY 15/12

02:05 50m backstroke (C) -Qualifiers-

02:19 50m. backstroke (A) -Preliminaries-

02:31 200m. butterfly (C) -Preliminaries-

02:46 200m. butterfly (A) -Preliminaries-

03:02 100m. mixed individual (C) -Qualifiers-

03:12 100m. mixed individual (A) -Qualifiers-

03:25 400m. freestyle (A) -Preliminaries-

03:52 4X50m. freestyle (C) -Qualifiers-

03:59 4X50m. freestyle (A) -Preliminaries-

10:35 100m. free (C) -FINAL-

10:42 100m. free (A) -FINAL-

10:48 50m. backstroke (C) -Semifinals-

10:59 50m backstroke (A) -Semifinals-

11:14 200m. butterfly (C) -FINAL-

11:23 200m. butterfly (A) -FINAL-

11:37 100m. anterior (C) -FINAL-

11:44 100m. front (A) -FINAL-

11:57 100m. mixed individual (C) -Semifinals-

12:14 100m. mixed individual (A) -Semifinals-

12:31 400m. free (A) -FINAL-

12:46 4X50m. free (C) -FINAL-

12:54 4X50m. free (A) -FINAL-

FRIDAY 16/12

02:05 4X50m. free mixed -Qualifiers-

02:19 200m. breaststroke (C) -Preliminaries-

02:39 200m. breaststroke (A) -Preliminaries-

02:58 50m. freestyle (C) -Qualifiers-

03:14 50m. freestyle (A) -Preliminaries-

03:36 4X200m. freestyle (A) -Preliminaries-

03:55 1,500m. freestyle (C) -Slow Rows-

10:35 4X50m. free mixed -FINAL-

10:42 200m. anterior (C) -FINAL-

10:51 200m. front (A) -FINAL-

11:06 50m backstroke (C) -FINAL

11:12 50m. backstroke (A) -FINAL-

11:25 50m. freestyle (C) -Semifinals

11:41 50m. freestyle (A) -Semifinals

11:56 100m. mixed individual (C) -FINAL-

12:04 100m mixed individual (A) -FINAL-

12:16 1,500m. freestyle (C) -Quick Row-

12:45 4X200m. free (A) -FINAL-

SATURDAY 17/12

02:05 4X50m. mixed team (C) -Qualifiers-

02:12 4X50m. mixed team (A) -Qualifiers-

02:21 400m. mixed individual (C) -Qualifiers-

02:47 400m. mixed individual (A) -Qualifiers-

03:05 100m. butterfly (C) -Preliminaries-

03:16 100m. butterfly (A) -Preliminaries-

03:36 50m. breaststroke (C) -Preliminaries-

03:51 50m. breaststroke (A) -Preliminaries-

04:09 800m. freestyle (A) -Slow rows-

10:35 4X50m. mixed team (C) -FINAL-

10:43 4X50m. mixed team (A) -FINAL-

10:50 800m. freestyle (A) -Quick sequence-

11:11 100m. butterfly (C) -Semifinals-

11:22 100m. butterfly (A) -Semifinals-

11:40 400m. mixed individual (C) -FINAL-

11:50 400m. mixed individual (A) -FINAL-

12:07 50m breaststroke (C) -Semifinals-

12:17 50m. breaststroke (A) -Semifinals-

12:33 50m. free (C) -FINAL-

12:39 50m. free (A) -FINAL-

SUNDAY 18/12

02:05 200m. freestyle (C) -Qualifiers-

02:23 200m. freestyle (A) -Preliminaries-

02:44 200m. backstroke (C) -Qualifiers-

03:03 200m. backstroke (A) -Preliminaries-

03:17 4X100m. mixed team (C) -Qualifiers-

03:29 4X100m. mixed team (A) -Qualifiers-

10:35 100m. butterfly (C) -FINAL-

10:42 100m. butterfly (A) -FINAL-

10:49 50m. anterior (C) -FINAL-

11:01 50m front (A) -FINAL-

11:08 200m. backstroke (C) -FINAL-

11:22 200m. backstroke (A) -FINAL-

11:36 200m. free (C) -FINAL-

11:50 200m. free (A) -FINAL-

12:03 4X100m. mixed team (C) -FINAL-

12:19 4X100m. mixed team (A) -FINAL-