Lucas Henveaux Maintains Surge at Belgian Championships with Freestyle Double
Cal-Berkeley standout Lucas Henveaux enjoyed another strong day at the Belgian Open Championships on Sunday. Coming off a national record in the 100-meter backstroke on Saturday in Antwerp, Henveaux doubled on the final day of the meet in the 800 freestyle and 200 freestyle.
Henveaux opened the meet’s last session by claiming a dominant triumph in the 800 freestyle, on the strength of a 7:57.62 performance. Henveaux won the 16-lap event by more than 26 seconds and then came back a few events later to win in the 200 freestyle. In the shorter distance, Henveaux was timed in 1:47.28. He is the Belgian record-holder in the 200 freestyle (1:46.04), 400 freestyle (3:44.61) and 800 freestyle (7:51.51).
In the men’s 100 backstroke, Noah Verreth nearly broke Henveaux’s day-old national standard when he touched the wall in 54.40. That swim was just .14 shy of the 54.26 that Henveaux posted on a relay leadoff during Saturday action. Henveaux opted to not race the 100 backstroke on Sunday.
On the women’s side, Florine Gaspard beat the competition by almost two seconds in the 100 freestyle. She checked in with a mark of 54.19 and backed up earlier wins in the 50 freestyle and 100 breaststroke. For good measure, her 30.92 in the 50 breaststroke easily outdistanced the competition. In the 800 freestyle, Sarah Dumont grabbed the win in 8:39.75, and added a first-place finish in the 100 butterfly (59.58). Roos Vanotterdijk (2:13.52) was fastest in the 200 individual medley.