Junior Pan Pacs, Day 4 Prelims: Lilla Bognar, Rylee Erisman, Shin Ohashi Chasing More Gold
In six prelims events on the final morning of the Junior Pan Pacific Championships in the Australian capital of Canberra, three swimmers who have already secured individual victories claimed top seeds. Top times in all girls’ events plus one boys’ event and the early heats of both distance freestyle races belonged to American swimmers, and in the last finals session Saturday, the U.S. will try to continue a dominant meet in which the team has captured 16 out of 25 gold medals, including four out of five relays.
Already the winner of the 400 IM, the United States’ Lilla Bognar led the way over half the distance in 2:13.28, six tenths clear of teammate Teagan O’Dell (2:13.87), with the Japanese duo of Misuzu Nagaoka (2:14.09) and Shuna Sasaki (2:14.42) occupying the next two spots. Audrey Derivaux, the American winner of both butterfly events, was locked out of the final as the third-best American, despite clocking 2:14.65.
Rylee Erisman will also be aiming for a second individual gold as the 15-year-old clocked 24.99 in the 50 freestyle, one hundredth clear of Australia’s Milla Jansen (25.00), while Aussie Hannah Casey (25.36) and American Lily King (25.42) claimed lanes three and six, respectively. Erisman previously swam meet-record times of 53.76 to win the 100 free and 53.75 leading off the U.S. girls’ 400 free relay.
The 200 breaststroke saw the USA’s Addie Robillard (2:28.45) and Japan’s Kotomi Kato (2:28.62) post the only times under 2:30, while Japan will have a very strong duo in the final after Kotomo Sato qualified third (2:30.70).
The winner of the girls’ 1500 free, American Paige Downey clocked 8:44.58 in the early heats of the 800. She was denied a spot racing at night because the top two seed times belong to fellow U.S. swimmers Kayla Han and Kennedi Dobson.
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- Day 2 Finals Recap
- Day 3 Prelims Recap
- Day 3 Finals Recap
In boys’ competition, Gregg Enoch swam a best time of 2:02.42 to lead the way in the men’s 200 IM ahead of teammate Joe Polyak (2:02.77), with Australia’s Joshua Kerr (2:03.16) and Japan’s Asaki Nishikawa (2:03.57) both going 2:03s.
Australia grabbed a top seed in the 50 free with Joshua Conias blasting a time of 22.69 to finish three tenths ahead of the field, with the remaining competitors led by the USA’s Quin Seider (23.01), New Zealand’s Harrison Klouwens (23.02) and the USA’s Josh Howat (23.06).
Japan will threaten for a big haul in the 200 breast with Shin, 15 topping the field in 2:12.88 and countryman Ryu Saito placing third (2:14.04). American Jordan Willis finished in between (2:13.95).
Luka Mijatovic, already the winner of three gold medals in Canberra in the 200 and 400 free plus 800 free relay, concluded his meet with a best time by nearly 11 seconds in the early heat of the 1500 free. He clocked 15:15.95, becoming the sixth-fastest man ever in the 15-16 age group. Like Downey, Mijatovic was relegated to the early heats thank to the presence of fellow Americans Luke Ellis and William Mulgrew with faster entry times.