Swimming star Eneli Jefimova smashes 3 Estonian national records on US debut
Estonian swimming star Eneli Jefimova, who began studying and training at North Carolina State University this year, smashed 3 Estonian national records in her first official competition in the U.S.
The 18-year-old Estonian was competing in Atlanta, Georgia, where her university faced off against Georgia Tech, Florida State and the University of Georgia.
Jefimova, who holds all Estonian women's breaststroke records for both short course and standard size pools, started with a time of 57.67 seconds in the 100-yard breaststroke, which immediately lifted her to second place in the U.S. university season rankings.
She also broke the Estonian national record of 58.94 seconds in the process, which had been held by Jane Trep for 14 years.
Jefimova's time would have earned her fourth place at the U.S. collegiate championships, which were held this spring. The Estonian also became the second-best 100-yard breaststroke swimmer in her university's history, trailing only school record holder Sophie Hansson (56.72 seconds).
Jefimova, who is from Sillamäe, Ida-Viru County, then broke the Estonian 200-yard breaststroke twice. She first clocked 2 minutes 9.21 seconds, followed by 2 minutes 7.38 seconds a day later, surpassing Maria Harutyunyan's previous best of 2 minutes 11.53 seconds
Jefimova's performance was the fourth best of all time atNorth Carolina State University for that distance.
The best is Hansson with a time of 2 minutes 03.75 seconds.
Jefimova will be back in competition for North Carolina State University on November 7-8, when they face the Ohio State and Virginia Tech women's teams in their home pool.
The Estonian Swimming Federation does not officially recognize yard pool records.
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Editor: Anders Nõmm, Michael Cole
