Our Paul Oberjuerge writes about UAE resident and 2012 Olympian with Serbia Velimir Stjepanovic, who won a gold medal and bronze while competing the European Short Course Swimming Championships in the Danish city of Herning:
Victory
Stjepanovic, 21, gained his first major international gold by winning the 200-metre butterfly on Saturday, over a veteran field, in a time of one minute, 51.27 seconds. The five other swimmers in the race were 27 or older.
First medal
The day before, the Serb took the bronze in the 400m freestyle, in 3:40.91, as the Serbian record was broken for the third time in one day, twice by Stjepanovic. Nikita Lobintsov of Russia was the winner, in 3:39.49, and Andrea D’Arrigo of Italy was second.
Third national record
Stjepanovic was fifth in the 200m freestyle final on Sunday, but his time of 1:44.02 was a national record. The event was won by Russia’s Danila Isotov in 1:41.70.
Leap forward
“The meet gave me a motivation for the future,” Stjepanovic said yesterday. “It was important because I was coming back after four months with a back injury. Winning gold at the European Short Course is no easy feat and the bronze was unexpected; I wasn’t sure how I would do.”
Validation
“The gold medal was amazing, but it was important for me to see that I actually am improving, and in all three events I improved by a decent amount. Shows what I am doing [with coach Chris Tidey] is working.”
Upcoming
Stjepanovic was on his way to Glasgow, where he will swim for the Europe side in the Duel in the Pool, against a US team. He will swim the 100m and 200m fly.
