Alabama Swimming and Diving Trio Closes FINA World Championships
7/30/2017 7:33:00 PM | Swimming & Diving
Crimson Tide alum Kristian Gkolomeev, rising sophomore Zane Waddell and incoming freshman Flora Molnar swam relay and individual events in Budapest
BUDAPEST, Hungary – A trio of past and present Alabama swimmers completed a week of competition at the 2017 FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary on Sunday, including a championship final finish by three-time NCAA champion Kristian Gkolomeev.
Gkolomeev, rising sophomore Zane Waddell and incoming freshman Flora Molnar all swam on relays and in individual events at the World Championships.
Gkolomeev posted a trio of top-20 individual swims, including a seventh-place finish in the 50-meter freestyle after posting a 21.73in the championship final. Gkolomeev was 20th in the 50m butterfly (23.85) and the 100m freestyle (48.88).
He also led his native Greece to top-15 finishes in both the 400 freestyle and 400 medley relays. He anchored the Greeks' 11th-place finish in the 400-meter freestyle relay in a time of 3:16.92. A two-time Olympian, Gkolomeev relay leg of 47.87 was the sixth-fastest split out of prelims. He came back and clocked a 47.73 in the prelims of the 400m medley relay, the fourth-fastest freestyle split among the medley relays. His mark led Greece to a 14th place, 3:35.93 finish.
Waddell, a five-time All-American as a freshman at Alabama, was 45th in the 50m freestyle (22.86) and 48th in the 100m freestyle (49.99) in fields of over 100 swimmers. In addition, he anchored the South African men's 400m freestyle relay to a 12th place finish with a 3:17.41. Waddell also swam on RSA's mixed 400m freestyle relay that took 12th place after posting a 3:31.38.
A 2016 Olympian, Molnar posted top-30 finishes in both the 50m butterfly and freestyle. She was 19th in the butterfly event after touching the wall with a 26.51 and 28th in the freestyle after posting a 25.61.
Molnar opened her World Championships by leading off Hungary's ninth-place 3:38.90 400m freestyle relay with a 54.93, while closing the meet by anchoring Hungary to a 10th-place 4:03.08 finish in the 400m medley relay in a time of 55.39.
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