Croatian swimmer Dino Sinovčić won the 100m gold medal at the World Para Swimming European Championships, held from August 13 to 19 in Dublin.
Sinovčić won the backstroke final in the S6 category with a time of 1:16.08, in front of German swimmer Fabian Brune in second (1:21.80), and Ukrainian swimmer Oleksandr Komarov (1:22.21) in third, reports Tportal.hr on August 16, 2018.
“I’m delighted because this medal is the greatest success in my career. I was hoping for a medal because I came to Dublin with the best result in Europe. However, I had to confirm this in the pool. So far, I had not been in such a situation with so much extra pressure, but I managed to concentrate and do a great job,” said the 26-year-old member of Split’s KP Cipal.
In the final, Sinovčić swam two seconds faster than his qualifying result, where he was also the fastest.
“I was slower in the qualifiers, but it was not necessary to be faster. I controlled the race and did not want to spend too much for the final,” he added.
This is the second European medal for Sinovčić after winning third in Reykjavik in 2009. Dino was fifth in the same discipline at the last Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
The young Split swimmer was a step away from the medal after winning fourth place in the 50-meter backstroke on Monday. He missed the bronze by 1.29 seconds. However, Dino was pleased to have achieved his new personal record of 32.95.
“That was a good preparation for the 100-meter race. I can be happy because I have set a new personal record,” added Sinovčić, a third-year student at the Faculty of Kinesiology in Split.
At the European Championship in Dublin, there are 400 swimmers from 37 countries, while Croatia is represented by 11 male and female swimmers.
