10 Swimmers to Watch, All the links you need for the 2015 Junior World Championships

2015 World Junior Swimming Championships

The FINA World Junior Swimming Championships are set to bring together some of the best young swimmers in the world in Singapore next week, with Junior World titles and Junior World records on the line.

The event is only for boys ages 15-18 and girls ages 14-17, but uses FINA’s format for determining competition ages, which means all athletes must be in that age bracket on December 31st of 2015. (So an athlete who turns 19 this fall is not eligible to compete in Singapore, despite being technically of age during the meet.)

The upshot of that system is that any male athlete born between 1997 and 2000 will be eligible, as will any female athlete born between 1998 and 2001.

Below, we’ve got everything you need to get prepped for all the action, including the event schedule, start times around the world and several key swimmers to watch.

Event Schedule

You can view the full event schedule in PDF form here.

The World Junior Championships will feature heats, semifinals and finals for all events 100 meters and below. Events 200 meters and up will be swum with only prelims and finals, and the 800 and 1500 frees will be only timed finals. Below is the full morning and evening event order, with medal races shown in bold.

DAY 1 DAY 2 DAY 3
Heats โ€“ 10:00
Heats โ€“ 10:00 Heats โ€“ 10:00
400m Freestyle M
50m Breaststroke W
100m Backstroke M
400m Ind. Medley W
100m Breaststroke M
100m Backstroke W
4x100m Freestyle M
4x200m Freestyle W
200m Ind. Medley M
100m Freestyle W
100m Butterfly M
200m Butterfly W
200m Freestyle M
4x100m Medley Mixed
800m Freestyle W โ€“ slow heats
50m Butterfly W
50m Backstroke M
100m Breaststroke W
50m Freestyle M
200m Backstroke W
4x100m Freestyle Mixed
800m Freestyle M โ€“ slow heats
Semifinals & Finals โ€“ 18:00
Semifinals & Finals โ€“ 18:00 Semifinals & Finals โ€“ 18:00
400m Freestyle M โ€“ Final
50m Breaststroke W โ€“ Semi
100m Backstroke M โ€“ Semi
400m Ind. Medley W โ€“ Final
100m Breaststroke M โ€“ Semi
100m Backstroke W โ€“ Semi
4x100m Freestyle M โ€“ Final
4x200m Freestyle W โ€“ Final
100m Backstroke M โ€“ Final
200m Butterfly W โ€“ Final
200m Freestyle M โ€“ Final
50m Breaststroke W โ€“ Final
100m Butterfly M โ€“ Semi
100m Freestyle W โ€“ Semi
100m Breaststroke M โ€“ Final
100m Backstroke W โ€“ Final
200m Ind. Medley M โ€“ Final
800m Freestyle W โ€“ fastest heat
4x100m Medley Mixed โ€“ Final
50m Butterfly W โ€“ Semi
50m Freestyle M โ€“ Semi
200m Backstroke W โ€“ Final
100m Butterfly M โ€“ Final
100m Breaststroke W โ€“ Semi
50m Backstroke M โ€“ Semi
100m Freestyle W โ€“ Final
800m Freestyle M โ€“ fastest heat
4x100m Freestyle Mixed โ€“ Final
 

 

Day 4 Day 5 Day 6
Heats โ€“ 10:00 Heats โ€“ 10:00 Heats โ€“ 10:00
50m Backstroke W
50m Butterfly M
400m Freestyle W
200m Breaststroke M
200m Ind. Medley W
4x200m Freestyle M
100m Freestyle M
100m Butterfly W
400m Ind. Medley M
50m Freestyle W
50m Breaststroke M
4x100m Freestyle W
1500m Freestyle W โ€“ slow heats
200m Backstroke M
200m Breaststroke W
200m Butterfly M
200m Freestyle W
4x100m Medley M
4x100m Medley W
1500m Freestyle M โ€“ slow heats
Semifinals & Finals โ€“ 18:00 Semifinals & Finals โ€“ 18:00 Semifinals & Finals โ€“ 18:00
50m Backstroke W โ€“ Semi
200m Breaststroke M โ€“ Final
50m Butterfly W โ€“ Final
50m Backstroke M โ€“ Final
100m Breaststroke W โ€“ Final
50m Butterfly M โ€“ Semi
400m Freestyle W โ€“ Final
50m Freestyle M โ€“ Final
200m Ind. Medley W โ€“ Final
4x200m Freestyle M โ€“ Final
1500m Freestyle W โ€“ fastest heat
100m Freestyle M โ€“ Semi
100m Butterfly W โ€“ Semi
50m Butterfly M โ€“ Final
50m Freestyle W โ€“ Semi
50m Breaststroke M โ€“ Semi
50m Backstroke W โ€“ Final
400m Ind. Medley M โ€“ Final
4x100m Freestyle W โ€“ Final
100m Freestyle M โ€“ Final
200m Breaststroke W โ€“ Final
200m Backstroke M โ€“ Final
100m Butterfly W โ€“ Final
1500m Freestyle M โ€“ fastest heat
50m Freestyle W โ€“ Final
200m Butterfly M โ€“ Final
50m Breaststroke M โ€“ Final
200m Freestyle W โ€“ Final
4x100m Medley M โ€“ Final
4x100m Medley W โ€“ Final

Start times around the world

Time Zone Prelims Finals See also:
Local Time UTC+8 10 AM 6 PM
Sydney, Australia UTC+10 12 PM (noon) 8 PM
Tokyo, Japan UTC+9 11 AM 7 PM
Singapore UTC+8 10 AM 6 PM Beijing, China; W. Australia
Kolkata, India UTC+5:30 7:30 AM 3:30 PM
Kazan, Russia UTC+3 5 AM 1 PM Athens, Greece
Paris, France UTC+2 4 AM 12 PM (noon) South Africa, Hungary, Germany
London, England UTC+1 3 AM 11 AM
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil UTC-3 11 PM (night before) 7 AM
US Eastern Time UTC-4 10 PM (night before) 6 AM Toronto, Canada
US Pacific Time UTC-7 7 PM (night before) 3 AM Vancouver, Canada
US Alaska Time UTC-9 5 PM (night before) 1 AM
US Hawaii Time UTC-10 4 PM (night before) 12 AM (midnight)

10 Swimmers to Watch

In terms of top junior talent, this meet is loaded. Just a cursory glance at the psych sheets show upwards of 20 events with very realistic chances of a falling Junior World Record. With that many records on the line, we could spend many paragraphs highlighting all the potential medal contenders. Therefore, the following list is far from exhaustive. We’ve featured 10 different swimmers with some added intrigue heading into the meet.

1. Kyle Chalmers, Australia:ย Long touted as the next great Aussie sprint star, athletic 17-year-old Kyle Chalmers will get a chance to really show his stuff internationally next week, as perhaps the favorite in the 50 and 100 frees. Chalmers is anย interesting prospect. Alhough he’s a world-class swimmer, he also still competes in Australian rules football, though his participation there nearly took him out of Worlds and Junior Worlds due to an injury.

2. Rikako Ikee, Japan:ย Born in 2000, Rikako Ikee became Japan’s first middle-schooler to qualify for Worlds at age 14 earlier this year. Ikee is the top seed in both the 50 and 100 fly, and could also be in the hunt for gold in the 50 and 100 frees. One of the youngest swimmers in the whole meet, Ikee is among the best pure sprinters at Junior Worlds, a unique combination in a set of events that put a premium on size and strength.

3. Michael Andrew, USA:ย 16-year-old Americanย Michael Andrewย will have one of the busiest schedules in Singapore. The versatile NAG record-breaker will compete in a whopping 8 individual events – the 50s of all four strokes, the 100 fly, back and breast, and the 200 IM. Andrew has legitimate shots at Junior World records in the 100 breast, 50 back and 50 free, and outside chances in several more of his races, but the result will probably come down to how Andrew can handle a grueling schedule of prelims, semifinals and finals that could add up to 24 swims plus relays.

4. Arina Openysheva, Russia:ย Russian 16-year-oldย Arina Openyshevaย is coming off her own busy meet lineup at the Europeanย Games earlier this summer, a meet in which she won 7 individual medals. She’s taking a more focused event lineup in Singapore, where she’s in the hunt for gold in the 100, 200 and 400 frees. Russia has been notoriously good in junior competitions over the past few years, and Openysheva is a key piece to extending that dominance to Junior Worlds.

5. Brandonn Almeida, Brazil:ย One of the best distance men in Singapore this week, Brazil’sย Brandonn Almeidaย will look to extend a big summer with three races at Junior Worlds: the 400 IM, 800 free and 1500 free. That 400 IM Junior World Record should be on high alert, though Almeida would have to make some big drops to catch Australianย Mack Horton‘s marks in the freestyle events.

6. Sierra Schmidt, USA:ย The female counterpart to Almeida is Americanย Sierra Schmidt,ย who is the top seed in the 800 and 1500 frees. Famous for her animated pre-race ritual of dancing to music blaring in her headphones, Schmidt is sure to be an entertaining force in Singapore. Watch for a 400 free that will pit her against Openysheva (at the high end of her range) and Australianย Tamsin Cook.

7. Luke Greenbank, Great Britain:ย The Junior World Record-holder in the 200 back,ย Luke Greenbankย was another star of the European Games. The British 17-year-old will swim all three backstrokes. He’s the heavy favorite in the 200, will have to fight off Andrew and Germany’s Mark Ulrichย in the 100 butย would need a big improvement in the 50 to contend for a backstroke sweep.

8. Viktoria Zeynep Gunes, Turkey:ย 17-year-old Viktoria Zeynepย Gunesย is in line for a busy week that could include a breaststroke sweep. The Junior World Record-holder in the 200 IM, Gunes will swim 5 different events in Singapore, including that race, where she’ll look to better her own world mark. Gunes is among the top seeds in the 50, 100 and 200 breaststrokes, and will also swim the 100 fly.

9. Daniilย Pakhomov, Russia:ย Russia’sย Daniil Pakhomovย has already starred at the Youth Olympic Games and the European Games. Just turned 17, Pakhomov is the top seed in two of the three butterfly races in Singapore, and is only a few tenths out of contention in the third event. He’s one of a couple Russians looking for sweeps of their respective strokes, along with…

10. Anton Chupkov, Russia:ย Already the Junior World Record-holder in the 100 and 200 breasts, Chupkov gets to contend for all three breaststroke titles, and will match up against a couple of high-profile Americans: the aforementioned Andrew and 6-foot-8 youngsterย Reece Whitley.ย Also in the hunt in those events will be Italy’s European Games starย Nicolo Martinenghiย and Lithuania’sย Andrius Sidlauskas.

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Rafael
8 years ago

Start lists are out

bobo gigi
8 years ago

And on the same day, August 22, 1999, definitely an Aussie day, Australia beats USA in the men’s 4X100 free and correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe that’s the first time in history a US men’s 4X100 free is beaten in a big long course international competition. A precursor sign of what will happen the following year at the olympic games.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcXx6deiLA8

swimdoc
Reply to  bobo gigi
8 years ago

And, sadly, how far the mighty have fallen. Neither made it to finals of the 2015 Worlds.

MIKE
Reply to  swimdoc
8 years ago

The interesting thing is that both teams swam equal times and they didnt make it out of th prelims

Gina Rhinestone
Reply to  swimdoc
8 years ago

It is true but they have both been bashed enough.

More interesting is how they go about getting back in the race . Australia will need a sprint camp & a convenient comp where a time trial could be held . Looks like Perth which is a good mid season comp is not on the agenda this year . And the state titles are either too early or too late .

Only Kyle & Cameron are guaranteed a low 48 . Maggies ‘ new training system is something poste – moderne nothing so far , several 2013 junior standouts have lost their way , james 2 is completely off the radar . Maybe they should just accept they… Read more ยป

ERVINFORTHEWIN
Reply to  bobo gigi
8 years ago

Thorpe beating out Lezak on the anchor !!! Ouchhhhhhhhhhhh

bobo gigi
8 years ago

Off topic but still interesting to look at the history of the sport.
Today is August 22.
16 years ago today, 16-year-old Ian Thorpe broke his first long course world record.
Pan Pacs 1999 in Sydney.
3.41.83 in the 400 free. Not too bad in a simple swim brief.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jnz08P6sQEQ

anonymus
Reply to  bobo gigi
8 years ago

crazy good. but for comparison, he looks way older and physically more matured than MA (for all the haters who say hes only good because hes so premature)

Queeny
Reply to  anonymus
8 years ago

MA is not even close to how tall he is going to be….or maturity…he’s going to be even more scary fast as he matures more.

Flyin'
Reply to  bobo gigi
8 years ago

Insane…almost a full second faster than Sun Yang’s World Champ wining timing 16 years later…

Flyin'
Reply to  Flyin'
8 years ago

*winning ๐Ÿ˜›

bobo gigi
8 years ago

No love for our French kids?
I can’t believe you didn’t mention at least one. ๐Ÿ˜‰

About Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson swam for nearly twenty years. Then, Jared Anderson stopped swimming and started writing about swimming. He's not sick of swimming yet. Swimming might be sick of him, though. Jared was a YMCA and high school swimmer in northern Minnesota, and spent his college years swimming breaststroke and occasionally pretending โ€ฆ

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