Rzeszutek's victory was the highlight of the day, as he overcame a significant deficit to Matteo Santoro in his final attempt. Santoro faltered, allowing Rzeszutek to leapfrog into first place, while Stefano Belotti secured bronze, narrowly edging out Poland’s Kacper Lesiak, who finished fourth by a mere 0.2 points.
This triumph marks only the third medal for Polish water jumpers in the history of the European Championships. Earlier in the week, Aleksandra Błażowska earned a silver in the 1-meter springboard, adding to Poland’s only medal in the sport, Jerzy Kowalewski’s bronze from 1966.
Polish swimmers also delivered impressive performances on Thursday. Jakub Majerski took bronze in the 100m butterfly with a time of 50.98 seconds, finishing behind Hungary's Kristof Milak and Hubert Kos.
Poland’s Adela Piskorska added another bronze in the 50m backstroke, clocking in at 28.00 seconds. Ireland's Danielle Hill won gold, and Greece's Theodora Drakou claimed silver. Paulina Peda, who opted out of the 50m backstroke final to focus on the 100m butterfly semifinals, secured a spot in Friday's final.
Jan Kałusowski also reached the podium, taking bronze in the 200m breaststroke with a time of 2:10.20. Remarkably, the gold was shared by Bulgaria's Lubomir Epitropov and Sweden's Erik Persson, who both finished at 2:09.45.
Poland's 4x100m freestyle relay team, comprising Mateusz Chowaniec, Dominik Dudys, Ksawery Masiuk, and Kamil Sieradzki, set a new national record with a time of 3:13.25, earning silver. The previous record was set at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. The host country's team took gold, with Greece claiming bronze.
Looking ahead, Poland's medal prospects remain strong with several athletes advancing to finals. Paulina Peda will compete in the 100m butterfly final, Kamil Sieradzki in the 200m freestyle, and Ksawery Masiuk in the 50m backstroke. The Polish 4x100m freestyle mixed relay team will also vie for a spot in the finals during the morning session.
The European Championships in Belgrade continue through Sunday.
(jh)
Source: IAR