NANJING, China, August 20. The Youth Olympic Games featured a World Junior Record bonanza on the fourth night of competition as nearly every other swim produced a new WJR here in Nanjing.
Scheduled Events
- Men’s 50 free final
- Women’s 50 back semis
- Men’s 200 breast final
- Women’s 50 fly final
- Men’s 50 back final
- Women’s 100 breast final
- Men’s 50 fly semis
- Women’s 200 free final
- Men’s 400 medley relay final
FINALS
Men’s 50 free
Photo Courtesy: Xinhua
China’s Yu Hexin raced his way to victory in the men’s splash-and-dash with a 22.00. That’s a new World Junior Record, nipping his 18th-ranked 22.01 from yesterday. Interestingly enough, that’s not the fastest time by a junior this year as Russia’s Evgeny Sedov clocked a 17th-ranked 21.98 earlier this year in Russia, but the time occurred before FINA began recognizing the records in April. At some point, these records will finally recalibrate, but until then keeping track of World Junior Records will continue to be a difficult prospect, at best.
Brazil’s Matheus de Santana finished a distant second in the sprint with a 22.43, while Trinidad and Tobago’s Dylan Carter rounded out the podium with a third-place 22.53.
Italy’s Alessandro Bori (22.66), Poland’s Jan Holub (22.70), Great Britain’s Miles Munro (22.82), Germany’s Damian Wierling (22.82) and Great Britain’s Duncan Scott (22.84) also competed in the finale.
Men’s 200 breast
Photo Courtesy: Xinhua/Yang Lei
World Junior Record holder Ippei Watanabe of Japan dropped the hammer in the final 50 meters to overtake Venezuela’s Carlos Claverie for the title as he posted a 2:11.31. He’s been much faster this year with a WJR time of 2:10.23 at the Japan Open this summer, but his swim tonight was enough to capture the gold medal.
Watanabe’s Splits:
50m
30.38 (2)
30.38
100m
1:04.24 (2)
33.86
150m
1:37.77 (2)
33.53
200m
2:11.31 (1)
33.54
Claverie, meanwhile, checked in with a silver-winning time of 2:11.74 after leading throughout 150 meters. He just could not handle Watanabe’s final split of 33.54. Russia’s Anton Chupkov grabbed the bronze in 2:11.87.
Germany’s Maximilian Pilger (2:11.97), Hungary’s David Horvath (2:12.39), South Africa’s Chad Crous (2:15.52), Taipei’s Bing-Rong Cai (2:16.89) and Brazil’s Andreas de Queiroz Mickosz (2:17.17) also swam in the championship heat.
Women’s 50 fly
Photo Courtesy: Xinhua/Ding Xu
Another World Junior Record flew off the books as Russia’s Rozaliya Nasretdinova charged her way to victory in the sprint fly. She blasted the assembled field with a 26.26 for the win. That performance upended the previous World Junior Record of 26.32 set by Svetlana Chimrova at World Juniors last summer and vaulted her into an 18th-ranked tie with Li Tao in the world rankings.
Switzerland’s Svenja Stoffel hit the wall second with a time of 26.62, while Slovenia’s Nastja Govejsek placed third with a 26.70.
Australia’s Brianna Throssell (26.72), Hungary’s Liliana Szilagyi (26.82), Norway’s Elise Naess Olsen (26.85), Slovakia’s Barbora Misendova (26.95) and Brazil’s Giovanna Tomanik Diamante (27.40) rounded out the top eight.
Men’s 50 back
Photo Courtesy: Xinhua/Yue Yuewei
Russia’s Evgeny Rylov crushed the World Junior Record in the men’s sprint backstroke event with a sterling effort of 25.09. That time obliterated the previous mark of 25.22 set by Simone Sabbiani at the European Junior Championships this summer, and moved Rylov up to a 19th-ranked tie with Chris Walker-Hebborn in the world rankings.
Greece’s Apostolos Christou, the WJR holder in the 100 back, took silver in the sprint with a 25.44, while Sabbioni wound up with bronze in 25.47.
The Netherlands’ Lauren Bams (25.61), Russia’s Filipp Shopin (25.83), Brazil’s Vitor Nascimento (25.85), Romania’s Robert Glinta (25.86) and Ukraine’s Andrii Khloptsov (26.10) also vied for the title in the finale.
Women’s 100 breast
Photo Courtesy: Xinhua/Yue Yuewei
Olympic gold medalist and world record holder Ruta Meilutyte of Lithuania put on a show for the fans in China as she won the finale by more than two seconds. Meilutyte threw down an epic time of 1:05.39, just missing her world-leading time of 1:05.21 from the ASA National Championships earlier this year. That’s one of the fastest times turned in this week in China across the board.
Meilutyte’s Splits:
50m
30.48 (1)
30.48
100m
1:05.39 (1)
34.91
Meilutyte pretty much had the pool to herself as China’s He Yun placed a distant second in 1:07.49. He also looked to have second secured by a wide margin with Ukraine’s Anastasiya Malyavina taking bronze with a 1:08.16.
Hungary’s Anna Sztankovics (1:08.66), Finland’s Silja Kansakoski (1:09.30), Great Britain’s Georgina Evans (1:09.69), Hungary’s Dalma Sebestyen (1:09.71) and Germany’s Julia Willers (1:09.98) comprised the other finalists.
Women’s 200 free
Photo Courtesy: Xinhua/Ding Xu
China’s Shen Duo, who already set the 100 free World Junior Record with a 53.84 earlier this week, led a Chinese 1-2 in the 200 free tonight. Shen skyrocketed to seventh in the world rankings with a smoking time of 1:56.12. If not for Katie Ledecky’s ridiculous 1:55.16 from the U.S. Nationals, Shen would have been in the running for another World Junior Record.
Shen’s Splits:
50m
27.14 (1)
27.14
100m
56.92 (2)
29.78
150m
1:27.13 (1)
30.21
200m
1:56.12 (1)
28.99
Qiu Yuhan, meanwhile, took silver for the host nation with a 1:56.82 as no one else came close to the Chinese tonight. That tied Qiu with Lauren Boyle for 14th in the world rankings in what proved to be one of the quicker heats of the night.
Australia’s Brianna Throssell snagged bronze with a 1:58.57, while Great Britain’s Amelia Maughan placed fourth in 1:59.41. Australia’s Ami Matsuo also broke 2:00 with a fifth-place 1:59.63.
Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey (2:00.08), Russia’s Daria Mullakaeva (2:01.32) and and Italy’s Rachele Ceracchi (2:01.32) closed out the championship finale.
Men’s 400 medley relay
Photo Courtesy: Xinhua/Yue Yuewei
The Russian contingent closed out what has been a seriously fast night with a World Junior Record in relay competition. The team of Evgeny Rylov, Anton Chupkov, Aleksandr Sadovnikov and Filipp Shopin raced their way into the record books with a 3:38.02 for the win. That effort clipped the previous WJR of 3:38.13 set by Japan at last summer’s World Juniors. Rylov, who has been on fire tonight, proved to be the key leg.
Comparative Splits:
Russia – 3:38.02
Evgeny Rylov – 54.31
Anton Chupkov – 1:00.38
Aleksandr Sadovnikov – 53.24
Filipp Shopin – 50.09Japan – 3:38.13
Keita Sunama – 55.47
Kohei Goto – 1:00.56
Takaya Yasue – 52.20
Toru Maruyam – 49.90
Germany’s Marek Ulrich (55.51), Maximilian Pilger (1:01.03), Alexander Kunert (54.07) and Damian Wierling (48.69) finished second in 3:39.30, while Australia’s Nic Groenewald (55.98), Grayson Bell (1:02.26), Nicholas Brown (53.35) and Kyle Chalmers (49.09) hit the wall third in 3:40.68.
South Africa (3:42.39), France (3:48.80), Spain (3:50.46) and Japan (3:52.60) also swam tonight, while the U.S. scratched the finale.
SEMIFINALS
Women’s 50 back
New Zealand’s Gabrielle Fa’amausili, the World Junior Record holder with a 28.14 from the World Junior Championships last summer, led the way through semis with a 28.78. Canada’s Danielle Hanus, meanwhile, placed second in 28.84 after winning the first semifinal heat.
The Netherlands’ Maaike de Waard (28.88) and Great Britain’s Jessica Fullalove (28.94) will bracket the top two seeds in the finale after taking third and fourth in semis.
New Zealand’s Bobbi Gichard (29.09), USA’s Clara Smiddy (29.11), Greece’s Eleni Koutsouveli (29.28) and Russia’s Irina Prikhodko (29.28) also made their way into the finale.
Men’s 50 fly
Photo Courtesy: Xinhua/Yue Yuewei
The men’s sprint fly finale looks to be a battle as the top three swimmers in the semis are separated by just .06 seconds. China’s Yu Hexin (24.03), Trinidad and Tobago’s Dylan Carter (24.04) and Russia’s Aleksandr Sadovnikov (24.09) each has a shot at winning the title in the finale.
The Netherlands’ Mathys Goosen (24.29), Estonia’s Daniel Zaitsev (24.39), China’s Li Zhuhao (24.41), Latvia’s Janis Saltans (24.58) and Norway’s Armin Porobic (24.60) will also compete in the championship heat.
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