Dec. 14, 2008
RIJEKA, Croatia - Texas A&M senior Triin Aljand (Tallinn, Estonia) finished off a record-breaking weekend at the 2008 European Short Course Swimming Championships with two more record swims.
Aljand set a new Estonian record in the 50-meter freestyle two times on Sunday. Aljand broke former Auburn Tiger Jana Kolukanova's national record of 24.87 during preliminaries, recording a time of 24.58. Ironically, Kolukanova's old record was set in College Station at the 2004 NCAA Championships.
Aljand hit the wall in 24.74 during the semifinal rounds which resulted in an eighth-place tie with Allakeandra Herasimenia of Belarus. Aljand stepped up to the challenge in the two-woman swim-off however, lowering the Estonian national record to 24.31 while Herasimenia finished in 24.56.
In the championship final, her second of the meet and career at the European Championships, Aljand finished in seventh place in 24.63, her fourth swim under the old national record in a single day.
With Sunday's record, Aljand now holds at least a share of five different Estonian national records at the short course meters distance: 50 backstroke (28.20), 50 freestyle (24.31), 50 butterfly (25.57), 100 butterfly (58.13), and as a member of the 200 medley relay (1:53.66).