RIJEKA, Croatia — Former LSU standout Miko Malberg and highly-touted Finnish signee Andrei Tuomola each enjoyed impressive showings at the 2008 European Short Course Swimming Championships, which concluded Sunday in Rijeka, Croatia.
Ten world records fell during the prestigious four-day competition, which featured many of Europe’s elite swimmers and a bevy of Olympic medalists from the Beijing Games.
Malberg, a native of Estonia who shattered his country’s national record in the 50-meter freestyle at the Olympics last summer, recorded a ninth-place finish in the 50scm free semi-finals on the opening day of the competition. The former LSU All-American touched the wall in 21.57 seconds, missing the final round by only four one-hundredths of a second.
In addition, he spearheaded his team’s seventh-place finish in the prelims of the 4x50m freestyle relay with an Estonian national record time of 21.54 on the lead-off split and also captured a personal-best in the 100m free (49.39) and a 21st-place finish in the 50m butterfly (23.86).
Tuomola, a product of Haarajoki, Finland who signed a National Letter of Intent with LSU in November, provided a glimpse of the future in the Tigers’ freestyle sprints. He finished in the top half of the field in the 50m free with a personal best of 22.10, a mark comparable to an NCAA ?B’ cut qualifying consideration. Only one athlete younger than Tuomola ? Italy’s Marco Orsi ? swam a faster time in the event.
Furthermore, he secured personal bests of 49.07 and 27.91 in the 100m free and 50m breaststroke, respectively.
However, Tuomola wasn’t the only LSU signee to impress over the weekend. Back in the United States, Lady Tiger signees Amanda Kendall and Amber Green had fine performances at the 2008 Speedo Short Course Junior National Championships in Austin, Texas.
Kendall, a native of Fairfax, Va., clinched a spot in the championship final of both the 100-yard free and 100 fly. She earned fifth overall in the 100 free with a personal best of 50.58 and eighth in the 100 fly with a time of 55.69.
Green, a product of Eureka, Mo., seized fourth overall in the 100 free with a personal best of 50.22. Moreover, both athletes placed in the top-16 of the 50 free.