5 Women To Watch At World Junior Swimming Championships

Commentary by Jeff Commings, Swimming World Senior Writer

Ruta Meilutyte was the big star of the 2013 world junior swimming championships, winning four gold medals. Now that she’s too old to swim at the 2015 edition, it opens the door for a new crop of swimming stars to shine in Singapore.

This is the pre-Olympic year, so expect some athletes to make statements that they will be strong contenders for their country’s Olympic roster in 2016. The psych sheets have been released, and we are looking forward to a lot of exciting competition from these ladies, all aged 14 to 17 years old.

Below, we present five of the top women to follow through the meet, in alphabetical order.

Cassidy Bayer, USA

In the years since she broke the legendary national age group record by Mary T. Meagher, Bayer has been viewed as the Next Great Hope for the United States in the 200 butterfly. Though Camille Adams solidly is holding on to that distinction, Bayer is primed to take the USA to big heights beyond 2016 in the event. Bayer currently ranks fourth in the United States in the 200 fly, and if she breaks 2:07, will make her a serious contender for a spot on the 2016 Olympic team. Next week in Singapore, anything under 2:08 would solidify a gold medal in the 200 fly and put the 16-year-old in reach of the world junior record of 2:06.51.

Viktoria Gunes, Turkey

Gunes is returning to the world junior swimming championships to defend her title from 2013, but under a different name and a different nationality. She won the 200 breast world junior title two years ago as Viktoriya Solnceva from Ukraine, also taking silver in the 50 breast and bronze in the 100 breast. When Russia invaded the Crimean region of Ukraine last year, she and her family fled to Turkey and she’s now excelling as a Turkish citizen. At the world championships in Russia earlier this month, she broke the world junior record in the 200 IM with a 2:11.46 and came close in the 100 and 200 breast. She just missed out on places in a couple of championship finals in Kazan, and comes into the world junior championships with the chance to win four gold medals.

Rikako Ikee, Japan

Ikee competed at the world championships for Japan on a couple of relays, and now gets the opportunity to shine in several individual events. She is entered in the 50 and 100 freestyles as well as the 50 and 100 butterfly races. She could be the most successful female swimmer at the meet once you add in relays, but she’ll have tough competition from Russia in the sprint freestyles, and from Bayer in the 100 fly. Ikee is just two hundredths of a second off the world junior record of 26.26 in the 50 free, so look for her to challenge that, along with the likes of Russian Daria Ustinova.

Taylor Ruck, Canada

Ruck trains in Scottsdale, Ariz., but represents Canada internationally. She got a taste of wearing the Maple Leaf on her cap at the Pan American Games, but the world junior championships could be her breakout meet. She’s entered in the 100, 200 and 400 freestyles as well as the 100 and 200 backstroke. That kind of diversity will suit Canada well internationally, putting her in position for multiple relay duty. Backstroke in Canada is a very competitive stroke these days, so Ruck is wise to diversify her program to improve her chances of qualifying for the 2016 Olympics. In Singapore next week, her best race might be the 200 freestyle. Seven women are seeded with times under 2:00, so it could be a close race in the final if everyone swims close to their seeds. At 15 years old, Ruck is the youngest of the contenders, and her relative inexperience could help her in this situation. The 200 back is also a strong event for Ruck, but American Claire Adams might be too tough to handle.

Sierra Schmidt, USA

Dubbed the “Dancing Queen” for her routine of breaking out into an elaborate dance before her races, Schmidt comes into the meet looking to add to the hardware she’s already collected this summer. She dominated the field in the 800 freestyle at the Pan American Games, posting a lifetime best 8:27.54. That’s far and away the fastest seed in the event, and we can only imagine that Schmidt’s mind will also be focused on next year’s U.S. Olympic Trials, where she could slip into that wide open second spot in the distance event for a place on the Olympic roster. A strong swim in Singapore could boost her confidence heading into the next 11 months, as would a gold medal at the world junior swimming championships.