Hoogenband upstages Alexander the great

It was Popov’s first ever defeat in the 100 freestyle at the Euros. He had taken the gold medal four consecutive times.

“A dream has come true for me — for the first time at a major event I have beaten the great Alexander Popov. Before the finals I was still afraid of him, as I expected him to greatly improve his times from the semifinals,” Hoogenbandsaid.

Hoogenband, who recorded the third fastest time in history and a new championship record, came within a quarter of a second to the 48.21 world record in the event, set by Popov on June 18, 1994, in Monte Carlo. With Popov holding both other times, it makes Hoogenband the second fastest man ever at the distance.

Hoogenband, 21, was first off the blocks and never looked back, turning before Popov and leading all the way to the finish.

Although it was not Popov’s first loss at a meet, it was his first resounding defeat and second ever silver medal at an European championship.

It was seen by many as a changing of the guard one year before the Sydney Olympics, with the young up-and-coming star defeating the sport’s veteran golden boy.

A visibly disappointed Popov didn’t see it that way, but did admit he would have to change his training regimen to deal with the inevitability of a major pretender for his Olympic crown at the Summer Games.

“On the way to the Olympics, sometimes you have to holdback in order to take a step forward. We tried to do some things differently this year, but they didn’t seem to work. We have some things that we can try for next season,” Popov said.

In the women’s 100 Rolph gave Britain its first medal since 1962, when Anita Lonsbrough won the 200-metre breaststroke in Leipzig, East Germany. Rolf, who was lagging at the turn, poured on the energy in the final stretch of the women’s 100-metre freestyle to defeat favoured Dutch champion Inge de Bruijn, who had a time of 55.24, and Germany’s Sandra Volker who finished in 55.36.

In an effort to prepare for the race, Rolph had not taken part in the 200-meter medley and de Bruijn had scratched the 50-metre butterfly final to concentrate on the 100.

Italy’s Massimiliano Rosolino also gave Marcel Wouda a difficult time in the last freestyle leg of the 200-meter medley, but the Dutch world and European champion won in 2:01.43. Rosolino was second in 2:01.46 and Finland’s Jani Sievinen got 2:02.11.

In other finals, Europeanchampion Agnes Kovacs of Hungary easily won the 100-meter breaststroke in 1:08.75, with Ukraine’s Svitlana Bondarenko second with 1:09.33 and Brigitte Becue of Belgium third in 1:10.23.

It was a bad day for Bondarenko, who has been trying to win a gold medal in the event since the 1991 championships in Athens.

In the women’s 1-meter springboard final, Vera Iliyna of Russia took the event with 283.41, compatriot Irina Lashko was second with 277.59, and Conny Schmalfuss of Germany was third with 265.11.