Estonia's Kregor Ciirk misses 200m butterfly final at European Swimming Championships
Estonian swimmer Kregor Ciirk finished 10th overall after the semifinals of the 200m butterfly and failed to reach the final at the European Championships in Paris.
At the European Swimming Championships underway in Paris, Estonian swimmer Kregor Ciirk narrowly missed qualifying for the final of the 200m butterfly, ending up 10th overall after both semifinal heats.
In his semifinal heat, Ciirk placed sixth, clocking 1 minute 56.04 seconds. When results from both semifinal heats were combined, that time left him in 10th place overall — just outside the cutoff for advancing.
Final spot decided by fractions of a second
Eight swimmers with the best combined times advanced to the final. The fastest across both semifinals was France's Leon Marchand, who clocked 1:53.95. A time of 1:55.88 was enough to make the final, with Poland's Michal Antoni Chmielewski taking the last of the eight qualifying spots with exactly that time. Ciirk's semifinal result was roughly a tenth of a second short of that mark.
Earlier on Friday morning, Ciirk had posted 1:55.96 in the preliminary heats, finishing sixth in qualifying and securing his place in the semifinals.
Ciirk's personal best over 200m butterfly stands at 1:54.22, a time he set in the semifinal of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
