Swimmer Laura Lahtinen, 21, went to the 200-meter butterfly of the short course World Swimming Championships as a medal candidate. However, Finland’s long record without a medal continues.
Joel Sippola,
Inka Henelius
19:27•Updated 20:22
Swimmer Laura Lahtinen finished last, i.e. eighth, in the 200 meter butterfly final of the short course World Championships.
The 21-year-old Finn started off with a wild start and was third for a long time. However, the Finn froze properly and the time dropped to 2:05.71.
In the heats of the morning, Lahtinen was the third fastest with two seconds faster time. Lahtinen’s Finnish record is 2:03.13 from a couple of months ago.
The swimming megastar who swam next to Lahtinen Summer McIntosh would already take his second world record of the Games. Canada’s three-time Olympic gold medalist butterflyed the short track for a whopping time of 1:59.32.
Lahtinen competes on Friday in his second main event in the 100-meter butterfly.
– It’s annoying. I’m trying to turn my thoughts to tomorrow, because then there’s another main event. It’s nice here. Although it was a bad swim today, tomorrow is another chance.
Lahtinen got to witness by her side the best female swimmer in the world at the moment.
– We went there hard. It’s good to swim alongside, but it was a bit too fast, Lahtinen admitted.
Pains
The medalists were expected, because of the tough names of the USA Regan Smith took silver and Australian Elizabeth Dekkers bronze.
It has already been 16 years since Finland won a short track World Cup medal. Hanna-Maria Seppälä achieved silver in the 100-meter individual medley and bronze in the 100-meter freestyle at the 2008 World Championships.
In addition to him, they have been able to win a world championship medal in the 25-meter pool Antti Kasvio, Petteri Lehtinen, Jani Sievinen and Jarno Pihlava.
Finland’s previous World Cup swimming medal, including the long course, is from the 2013 Barcelona World Cup. At that time Matti Mattsson styled for the first time in his career for medals in the competition, taking bronze.
Lahtinen was still strongly involved at 100–150 meters. According to the swimmer, the clotting wasn’t actually caused by running out of energy. It was about technical challenges.
– There were a few bad surfacings. I didn’t let that bother me either. In the last 150 meters, bad Laura came again. It could have had a chance for a medal, but just couldn’t pull itself together anymore.
According to Lahtinen, he had a good feeling before the final. In the morning, he had a bit of a toothache, despite the great triple placement and good time.
Lahtinen says that he had pain when he woke up in the morning. The swimmer is not sure of the cause, but assumed it was menstrual cramps.
She has had period pains in the past, for example in South Korea during the World Cup race.
– I believe it’s the same thing, Lahtinen stated.
The best season of my career
Lahtinen has long been known as a super promise in Finnish swimming. In 2019, he reached the top 16 in his first long-distance World Championships. In the same summer, he celebrated the youth European Championship bronze in the 200-meter butterfly.
After this, Lahtinen had several difficult years, which included illnesses, among other things. He has never competed at the Olympic level.
Two years ago, he reached a new level in the short track competitions. Lahtinen was eighth in the short track World Championships in Melbourne and achieved his first place in the finals in the adult championships.
This season, he has been in the strongest mood of his career. Lahtinen has celebrated his first victories in the World Cup games and improved his records in butterfly swimming trips.
In Shanghai, he improved his record from two years ago by two seconds to a top time of 2:03.13.
Improved self-confidence
The background of Lahti’s top level is, among other things, a good training season and an improvement in self-confidence. In the past, the charge went over when he got too excited before the Games.
Self-confidence has been increased by the great successes in the World Cup against the most seasoned star athletes in their sport. For example, in his record-breaking swim in Shanghai, he was the second Olympic champion after Smith.
– That’s why I came here, that I can really swim against the toughest in the world, Lahtinen commented to Urheilu in October.
Lahtinen’s four-year goal is set for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. At that time, he is 25 years old.
Ronny Brännkarr was 14th in the men’s 100m medley semifinals and Fanny Teijonsalo 16th in the 50m backstroke.
Updated 20.19: Added comments.