2023 EUROPEAN JUNIOR SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Tuesday, July 4th – Sunday, July 9th
- Sports and Recreational Center “Milan Gale Muškatirović”, Belgrade, Serbia
- Prelims at 10am local (4am EDT)/Finals at 5pm local (11am EDT)
- LCM (50m)
- Meet Central
- Entries
- SwimSwam Preview
- Live Results
- Livestream
- Day 1 Prelims Recap |Day 1 Finals Live Recap
- Day 2 Prelims Recap | Day 2 Finals Live Recap
- Day 3 Prelims Recap | Day 3 Finals Live Recap
- Day 4 Prelims Recap | Day 4 Finals Live Recap
- Day 5 Prelims Recap | Day 5 Finals Live Recap
- Day 6 Prelims Recap | Day 6 Finals Live Recap
BOYS 400 FREESTYLE – FINAL
World Junior Record: 3:44.60, Mack Horton (AUS) 2014European Junior Record: 3:45.93, Lorenzo Galossi (ITA) 2022- European Record: 3:40.07, Paul Biedermann (GER) 2009
Championship Record: 3:46.26, Yannick Agnel (FRA) 2010- 2022 European Junior Champion: Lorenzo Galossi (ITA) 3:48.14
PODIUM:
- GOLD: Petar Mitsin (BUL) 3:44.31 *World Junior Record *European Junior Record *Championships Record
- SILVER: Alessandro Ragaini (ITA) 3:48.42
- BRONZE: Vlad-Stefan Stancu (ROU) 3:50.21
The 2023 European Junior Championships are ending with a bang right now in Belgrade. Capping off an exceptional week of swimming, Bulgarian 17-year-old Petar Mitsin put up his biggest swim yet, roaring to a new World Junior Record en route to claiming gold in the boys 400 free.
Mitsin domintated the field, which contained Italy’s Alessandro Ragaini and Romania’s Vlad Stancu, both of whom are having fantastic meets in their own regard, blasting a 3:44.31 to chip Mack Horton‘s WJR mark of 3:44.60. Horton’s record had stood since 2014, which made it one of the oldest World Junior Records on the books. On top of the World Junior Record, Mitsin blew the European Junior Record of 3:45.93 away and bettered the European Junior Championship Record of 3:46.26 by an even bigger margin.
This won’t come as a surprise, but Mitsin put together a brilliant race tonight to break the record. Mitsin won the boys 200 free earlier in the week with a 1:46.50, and displayed great control taking his 400 out tonight, splitting 1:51.00 on the opening 200m. Following the great first 200m, Mitsin then tacked on a 56.91 split on the 3rd 100, then came home in 56.40 on the final 100, for a 1:53.31 on the back half of the race.
Here is a split comparison between Mitsin’s World Junior Record performance tonight and Mack Horton‘s previous WJR swim from the 2014 Australian Swimming Championships:
| Split | Petar Mitsin – 2023 European Junior Championships | Mack Horton – 2014 Australian Swimming Championships |
| 50m | 26.05 | 25.70 |
| 100m | 28.26 (54.31) | 27.65 (53.35) |
| 150m | 28.40 (1:22.71) | 28.26 (1:21.61) |
| 200m | 28.29 (1:51.00) | 28.65 (1:50.26) |
| 250m | 28.27 (2:19.27) | 28.55 (2:18.81) |
| 300m | 28.64 (2:47.91) | 28.91 (2:47.72) |
| 350m | 28.45 (3:16.36) | 29.04 (3:16.76) |
| 400m | 27.95 | 27.84 |
| FINAL TIME | 3:44.31 | 3:44.60 |
Horton took his race out faster than Mitsin, particularly on the first 100m. While Horton would come home slightly faster than Mitsin, splitting 27.84 on the final 50, Mitsin’s ability to swim faster through the entirety of the middle of the race allowed him to produce the faster overall time.
For Mitsin, the performance came on the heels of an electric week of racing. He began by shattering the Bulgarian Record in the 200 free with a 1:46.50, which was good for gold by over a second. With one Bulgarian Record in the books, Mitsin then went on to roar to victory in the boys 800 free final last night, throwing down a huge new personal best of 7:47.45. Not only did the performance mark a massive improvement for Mitsin personally, it marked another Bulgarian Record, as well as a new European Junior Championship Record in the event.
If there was any concern that Mitsin might be a bit groggy today coming off the 800 free final yesterday, he put those concerns to rest tonight in emphatic fashion. With his 3:44.31 tonight, Mitsin added a 3rd Bulgarian Record, a 2nd Championship Record, a European Junior Record, and, of course, a World Junior Record to his incredible list of accomplishments in Belgrade this week.
Mitsin’s performance ranks him 4th in the world this year at the time this post was published.
Does swimswam have a list of the real WJR records long course and short? Thorpe really should be offial because he did go by the doping procedures to have his WR mark aproved
The fastest all time juniors are listed on wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_junior_world_records_in_swimming
would smoke any of the Americans. Truly an embarrassment that the Americans cant swim 400 free
Swimswam do you have a compilation of the real WJR’s both in long course a short course meters? Shall we do a petition for All Aquatics to recognize the real records? At least recognize the ones that were properly tested dos doping like the ones that were simultaneously WJR and WR like Thorpe’s record. Thorpe’s records were such amazing feet’s… he needs to be in the record books…for the juniors at least! Come on! We as a swimming community OWE HIM THAT
He did have real big feets from what I recall.
While a nice achievement, not even close to the real record by Thorpe.
Ian Thorpe swam 3:41.83 as a 16 yo….. in BRIEFS!
Thorpe went 3:41 at 16 and 3:40 at 17, it should be mentioned as the current WJR list ignore many rightful holders.
And he did in a brief too! Would have been 3:39 wearing today’s tech suits.
Would have been 3:39 if he didn’t take the biggest glide I have ever seen in the race he went 3:40.08. OR in Fukuoka 2001 when he was content to hang around Hackett for 250m before kicking it and swam a 3:40.2 or something. That was Thorpes peak and he went 1:44.0 in 2 free in that meet. He had incredible first half speed and just did not use it.
Biggest glide I’ve ever seen.
https://youtu.be/T0Df_F0MEBM
He said afterwards that had he knew he’s breaking WR, he’d have pushed it.
Had he pushed it, we wouldn’t have to deal with Biedermann WR travesty.
That is also the smoothest 1.49 (200 split).
Thorpe’s 3:41 in a brief at age 16 is imo the most impressive swim in history. Shame there’s not a full video of it on YouTube
I think Kieran Perkins’ 3:43 way back in 94 just barely beats it. Ironic that both are 400s swum by Australian men. Honorable mention is Crocker’s 50.4 from 2005. Not only dealt Phelps a rare individual loss but set a blisteringly fast wr that required rubber suits to bring down (not unlike Thorpe’s 400 free)
👏 Crocker’s 50.4…💜
I would put Hackett’s 1500 WR along with those swim. It is the only WR that survived the super suit era.
* swims
How is Perkin’s swim better? It’s a phenomenal swim but it’s literally 2 seconds slower than a 16 year old? Objectively, Thorpe’s is better.
perkins dropped 2 seconds off the wr and thorpe dropped 3 – while I love that swim of kps and he has described it as his best, the thorpe 341 was a big drop
nearly 2 and a half decades later we may see some people going past thorpey in the next 5 years. want to see these boys do it in a dt though
340 was in a full body suit. I agree it’s slower than today’s suits, but it definitely wasn’t a brief.
3:41 at 16 was in a brief https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jnz08P6sQEQ
Were you born yesterday or just followed swimming recently?
In 1999 pan Pacs, 16 yo Thorpe swam 3:41.83 in BRIEFS
Thorpe already rode very high in the water. I’m sure modern tech suits would help him but only marginally. When he wore a full body suit, his time didn’t dramatically improve.
The body suits of 2000 were trash, were way heavier than today’s suits.
, if you compare him to someone like perkins. torpe is much more kick dominant and looked much further forward than perkins. so i think he rode actually fairly low in the water?
Outside of Popovici breaking the 100 FR WR last summer, Thorpe going 3:40 at 17 in the 400 FR was the most spectacular junior swim of all time. It took 22 years for anyone junior or senior (but in textile and without doping) to come within a second of that time.
Those are unbelievable swims…but give credit to Ledecky junior swims too…also wasn’t Phelps still a junior when he did 1.55.9 200IM? taking 2 seconds from the WR in one meet?
He took about 2 seconds off at 2003 worlds but 1:55.9 was done at us nationals 2 weeks after the world champions. The record started at 1:58.16 that year.
in 03, Phelps first broke the WR with a 1:57.94 at an in season meet in Santa Clara lol, then swam 1:57.5 in the semifinals in 2003 worlds, then 1:56.0 in the finals 2003 worlds, then 1:55.9 in Us nationals 2 weeks later. Probably the most a swimmer has brutalized a world record in recent memory. Thorpe was similar with the 200 free in 01 dropping it from Hoogenbands 1:45.3 to 1:44.0
who was doping?
For those wondering, Ian Thorpe was 3:40.5 at 17 at the Sydney Olympics
Thanks, almost missed it. It’s not like this has been mentioned (by Australians) under every single 400 free article. Last year with Galossi it was the same.
A lot of the pople mentioning it aren’t Australians and it makes sense when talking about the fastest ever juniors in the 400 free to also mention Thorpe.
Most people mentioning is not even Australian.
I mentioned it, I’m not Australian, I just love swimming and follow swimming greats.
You seem insecure.
Nope, just tired to see that the following things happen over and over again:
a) Fast time in men’s 400 free by a junior athlete -> Multiple commentators: „Did you know that Thorpe went 3:36 in briefs with his hands tied behind his back?“
b) Fast time in women’s 200/400 free, women’s 200/400 IM or Women’s 200 fly by athlete X -> Commentator: „Haha athlete X has no chance against Summer McIntosh. Summer McIntosh is much better than athlete X.“
The people who are insecure are the ones who keep writing the same comment under every remotely related article, just to draw the attention away from the athlete that the article was dedicated to.
You don’t have to read the comments, or you can contribute positively by making insightful comments.
But no, you choose to be insecure and negative.
Wow. The M4Fr is only getting more interesting