Eneli Jefimova was left disappointed with her starts at the European Swimming Championships in the 50 m pool in Paris.
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Last December, the 19-year-old managed to win gold at the 25-meter continental championships in Lublin, where she beat Ruta Meilutyte in the 50 m breaststroke, but this time at the most important competition of the year, which is valued more for the Olympic-length pool, everything was different.
- 19-year-old Eneli Jefimova is the best Estonian swimmer
- Another swimmer with the same surname also participated in the European Championships. 34-year-old Russian Yuliya Yefimova competed under a neutral status, like all athletes from the aggressor country, but the former titled swimmer did not reach the finals.
Although in the semifinals in Paris E. Jefimova recorded exactly the same time (29.93 seconds) with which Ruta Meilutyte swam to gold in the final, the Estonian was left empty-handed in the final eight.
In the final, E. Jefimova swam in 30.00 seconds, which was 0.07 seconds slower than gold medalist R. Meilutyte, 0.06 seconds slower than silver medalist Italian Benedetta Pilato, and 0.05 seconds slower than bronze medalist Irish Mona McSharry.
“There have definitely been moments in my life when I felt sadder, but … again those five hundredths of a second, again fourth place,” sighed E. Jefimova, as quoted by “Postimees”. “A big disappointment, very sad to be here.”
E. Jefimova could not forget that she swam faster in the semifinals than in the final.
“I saw that my previous result would have brought me gold. The point is that it was the semifinal, and the final turned out differently. But the overall picture was unfavorable for me. Seven hundredths is such a small difference,” said E. Jefimova.
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B. Pilato swam the fastest in the heats and semifinals. So the Estonian swimming in the adjacent lane tried to keep up with her.
“She started very well, I usually chase, and in the end I catch up. But this time I was 0.05 seconds away from a medal. I felt good both before the swim and during the warm-up, I really wanted to win. But you can’t follow others too much because you have to trust your instincts and technique. This time it wasn’t enough,” said E. Jefimova.
In recent years, the Estonian has been training and studying in the USA. Big changes did not bring quick success. E. Jefimova was fourth in the 100 m breaststroke final, where she also missed bronze, won by B. Pilato, by 0.05 seconds.
“I got tired during the European Championships, many things came together, but I don’t see red flags. The competition was very emotional,” said E. Jefimova. “It was my first summer far from home, I missed home, I wanted to show good results. According to them, the European Championships were good, but this week other women simply swam faster.
After the disappointment in the 100 m breaststroke, I tried to focus on the 50 m, I succeeded in the semifinals, but probably not so much in the final.”
