Iceland
Leading The Charge
LIMASSOL, 3 June 2009 - The battle in the pool of the
XIII Games of the Small States of Europe is set to
continue on Thursday, with the races at the Limassol
Swimming Pool expected to be a crucial stage in the
Swimming event.
Iceland has already
set its sights on four gold medals in swimming whilst
hosts Cyprus are favourites to take the gold in the
womenʼs 200m freestyle event through Anna Stylianou.
Iceland, on the other hand, are aiming to take the top
two places in the 50m freestyle event through its
athletes Ragnheidur Ragnarsdottir and Ingibjorg
Jonsdottir whilst Erla Dogg Haraldsdottir and
Hrafnhildur Luthersdottir will also be targeting similar
success in the womenʼs 200m breaststroke although
Cyprusʼ Anastasia Christoforou will be out to spoil any
planned celebrations by her Icelandic rivals.
The menʼs 50m
freestyle is also expected to see some action with
Icelandʼs Arni Mar Arnason getting the nod to take first
place after his previous time of 22.81 whilst
Luxembourgʼs Raphael Stacchiotti is lurking as a
potential threat. In the menʼs 200m breaststroke event,
Andorraʼs Hocine Constantin Haciane is tipped to take
the gold whilst Monacoʼs Xavier-Francois Paquot and
Icelandʼs Birkir Μar Jonsson look set to wage battle for
second place and the silver medal.
Another favourite on
the day is Cyprusʼ Anna Stylianou in the womenʼs 200m
freestyle event after clocking 2.00.55 in her previous
race ahead of Bra Sigrun Sverrisdottir of Iceland who
came in second at 2.03.35. Another dark-horse, in the
menʼs 200m freestyle event, is 17-year-old Stacchiotti
who impressed with his time of 1.49.80 ahead of second
place favourite Paquot.
In the womenʼs 4x100
medley, Iceland are looking strong and are tipped to
take the gold ahead of second favourites Cyprus.
