2015 FINA Junior World Championships: Gunes wins 100 breast, 200 IM golds on day 4

2015 WORLD JUNIOR SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

WOMEN’S 50M BACKSTROKE – Semifinals

  • WR: 27.06 Zhao Jing (CHN) 30 JUL 2009 Rome (ITA)
  • CR: 28.00 Minna Atherton (AUS) 28 AUG 2015 Singapore (SIN)
  • WJ: 28.00 Minna Atherton (AUS) 28 AUG 2015 Singapore (SIN)

Swimming in the second semifinal, Australia’s Minna Atherton continued her run of dominance, breaking her own junior world record in the 50 back.

Atherton powered away from the field to go 27.92, taking the record below 28 seconds for the first time.

New Zealand’s Gabrielle Fa’Amausili held the record prior to the morning, and she won the other semifinal at 28.14. Fa’Amausili is the defending champ in the event and the two will tangle in tomorrow’s medal final.

Canada’s Danielle Hanus sits third in 28.27, and for now, at least, the top 3 seem pretty removed from the rest of the field.

Fellow New Zealander Bobbi Gichard sits fourth in 28.57, and russia’s Irina Prikhodko also joins the championship final in 28.76.

Germany’s Laura Riedemann was 28.86, just nipping South Africa’s Mariella Venter for sixth, and American Grace Ariola, after winning a swim-off just to makes the semis, barely slips by once again, going 28.94 to take 8th.

MEN’S 200M BREASTSTROKE – Final

  • WR: 2:07.01 Akihiro Yamaguchi (JPN) 15 SEP 2012 Gifu (JPN)
  • CR: 2:10.73 Anton Chupkov (RUS) 27 AUG 2015 Singapore (SIN)
  • WJ: 2:09.64 Anton Chupkov (RUS) 6 AUG 2015 Kazan (RUS)

Russia’s Anton Chupkov couldn’t quite break his own junior world record, but he earned his second breaststroking gold with a new meet record in the men’s 200 breast.

Chupkov looked smooth and in control for the length of the race, going 2:10.19, just half a second off the world mark he set at Worlds in Kazan a few weeks ago. That breaks the championship record he set in prelims.

Australia’s Matthew Wilson led a group of swimmers challenging Chupkov unsuccessfully most of the way. Wilson was 2:11.23 for silver, and Japan’s Ippei Miyamoto took bronze in 2:11.59.

Just missing the medals was American giant Reece Whitely, who went 2:12.71 for fourth place. Whitley had a bit of a slow start to the race, but had put himself into medal contention by the 150 before the top three pulled away.

Italy’s Nicolo Martinenghi went 2:13.05 for fifth. Behind him, American Chandler Bray touched out Great Britain’s Charlie Attwood 2:15.00 to 2:15.04, with Austria’s Christopher Rothbauer rounding out the heat in 2:16.53.

WOMEN’S 50M BUTTERFLY – Final

  • WR: 24.43 Sarah Sjoestrom (SWE) 5 JUL 2014 Boras (SWE)
  • CR: 26.30 Rikako Ikee (JPN) 27 AUG 2015 Singapore (SIN)
  • WJ: 26.26 Rozaliya Nasretdinova (RUS) 20 AUG 2014 Nanjing (CHN)

Rikako Ikee improved her meet record by .02 in finals of the 50 fly, once again shaking, but not breaking, the junior world record, which is still another .02 seconds away.

Ikee was 28.28 for gold, topping the field by almost two tenths for sprint gold.

Canada’s Penny Oleksiak picked up her second individual silver of the meet in 28.45 – she was also second in the 100 free behind teammate Taylor Ruck.

She nipped Russia’s Maria Kameneva for that spot by .02 – a unit of time that’s becoming a trend in this girls 50 fly final.

Kameneva was 26.47, with China’s Wang Jingzhuo fourth in 26.51.

Australian teammates Lucia Lassman (26.86) and Georgia Cooney (26.97) were the last two under 27 seconds.

Also in the A final: Slovakian Barbora Misendova (27.00) and Hungary’s Szonja Szokol (27.37).

MEN’S 50M BACKSTROKE – Final

  • WR: 24.04 Liam Tancock (GBR) 2 AUG 2009 Rome (ITA)
  • CR: 25.14 Michael Andrew (USA) 27 AUG 2015 Singapore (SIN)
  • WJ: 25.09 Evgeny Rylov (RUS) 20 AUG 2014 Nanjing (CHN)

It’s been an up-and-down meet for American Michael Andrewbut his aggressive lineup choices are starting to look better in light of a gold medal and repeat meet record in the men’s 50 back.

Andrew suffered through a 5-event finals session on day 2 in order to swim this event – he noted on social media that he had to swim the 100 back that day to claim a spot in the 50 back tonight. Though he just missed a medal in the 100 (and the fatigue may have cost him medals in a few other events that day), he made up for it with a gold medal in the 50 back at 25.13, taking .01 off his meet record from prelims.

That’s also just .04 off the junior world record held at 25.09 by Russia’s Evgeny Rylov.

Andrew won his first individual gold by a wide margin, beating Canda’s Javier Acevedo by about three tenths. Acevedo was 25.46, and two swimmers tied for bronze – Mohamed Samy of Egypt and Robinson Molina of Venezuela. Both were 25.54.

Egypt had two A finalists, with Youssef Abdalla taking fifth in 25.63. Spain’s Hugo Gonzalez was 25.75, Greece’s Nikolaos Sofianidis 25.79 and Russi’as Roman Larin 26.13.

WOMEN’S 100M BREASTSTROKE – Final

  • WR: 1:04.35 Ruta Meilutyte (LTU) 29 JUL 2013 Barcelona (ESP)
  • CR: 1:06.61 Ruta Meilutyte (LTU) 29 AUG 2013 Dubai (UAE)
  • WJ: 1:05.21 Ruta Meilutyte (LTU) 10 AUG 2014 Sheffield (GBR)

Turkey’s Viktoria Zeynep Gunes mirrored Atherton on the day, working towards a sweep of her own primary stroke. Gunes went 1:06.77 to win the girls 100 breast, once again approaching, but not breaking, the meet record set by world and junior world record-holder Ruta Meilutyte.

Gunes has now won both sprint breaststroke distances, and has only the 200 to go, an event in which she is the junior world record-holder.

Gunes topped Sweden’s Sophie Hansson by exactly one second, with Hansson going 1:07.77. Great Britain’s Katie Matts was third in 1:07.96 – that’s the exact same medal order as the 50 breast from day 2.

Russia’s Maria Astashkina finished fourth in 1:08.12, once again missing a medal by just a few tenths. She and Japan’s Runa Imai might be the chief challengers to Gunes in the 200 breast, and Imai was just .01 behind the Russian in the 100, going 1:08.13.

Astashkina’s teammate Daria Chikunova was 1:09.03 for sixth, just beating Italy’s Giulia Verona (1:09.12) and Japan’s Yukino Miyasaka (1:09.27).

MEN’S 50M BUTTERFLY – Semifinals

  • WR: 22.43 Rafael Muñoz Perez (ESP) 5 APR 2009 Malaga (ESP)
  • CR: 23.61 Daniel Bell (NZL) 11 JUL 2008 Monterrey (MEX)
  • WJ: 23.28 Evgeny Sedov (RUS) 13 MAY 2014 Moscow (RUS)

Event 2 of 3 on the night was another win for Michael AndrewThe American topped semifinals of the 50 fly in 23.66 – just off the meet record.

He’s still four tenths off the junior world record (a 23.28 from Evgeny Sedov, rather than the 23.61 that shows up in FINA’s records database).

Andrii Khloptsov out of the Ukraine is also on the trail for gold, going 23.77 to sit a tenth behind Andrew heading into the final.

Russia’s Vladislav Kozlov was the last guy under 24, going 23.99, but his teammate Daniil Pakhomov was close behind. Pakhomov, the 100 fly champ, went 24.04 for fourth.

Spain’s Alberto Lozano is also safely into the final at 24.12, as are Croatia’s Bruno Blaskovic and Poland’s Michal Chudy, who tied for sixth at 24.25.

We’ll get a three-way swim-off for eighth, in what should be an exciting end to the session. Pawel Sendyk of Poland, Vinicius Lanza of Brazil and Brayden McCarthy out of Australia will all have a claim on that final championship heat lane, each going 24.38 out of semis.

WOMEN’S 400M FREESTYLE – Final

  • WR: 3:58.37 Katie Ledecky (USA) 23 AUG 2014 Gold Coast (AUS)
  • CR: 4:06.30 Elena Sokolova (RUS) 11 JUL 2008 Monterrey (MEX)
  • WJ: 3:58.37 Katie Ledecky (USA) 23 AUG 2014 Gold Coast (AUS)

Australia’s Tamsin Cook ended the American run of dominance in the women’s distance races this summer, going 4:06.17 to win gold in the girls 400 free.

That’s a new meet record for Cook, breaking the 7-year-old mark set by Russia’s Elena Sokolova.

She beat 800 free champ Sierra Schmidt, who was 4:07.47 to win a tight battle for silver. Italy’s Linda Caponi was the final medalist at 4:07.73.

The other American, Hannah Cox, finished just outside the medals at 4:08.69, rounding out the first pack that pretty well dropped the rest of the field.

Great Britain’s Holly Hibbott was 4:11.29 in leading the second wave of finishers. She touched out Dong Fuwei of China by .03 – Dong was 4:11.32 and Russia’s rangy freestyle specialist Arina Openysheva was 4:11.54 for seventh.

The second British entrant, Chloe Finch, was the final finisher at 4:12.73.

MEN’S 50M FREESTYLE – Final

  • WR: 20.91 Cesar Cielo (BRA) 18 DEC 2009 Sao Paulo (BRA)
  • CR: 22.11 Luke Percy (AUS) 28 AUG 2013 Dubai (UAE)
  • WJ: 22.00 Yu Hexin (CHN) 20 AUG 2014 Nanjing (CHN)

Australian Kyle Chalmers took home his first individual gold of the meet, going 22.19 to power away with the boys 50 free title.

Though it looked like American Michael Andrew had him beat off the start, Chalmers used his crushingly powerful stroke to overcome any deficit, finishing in 22.19 to rattle the meet record and finish two tenths off the junior world mark.

Andrew would take second, going 22.36, a couple hundredths off his best time ever.

Italy’s Giovanni Izzo touched out a pair of Brazilians for the final medal. His 22.55 topped Felipe Souza (22.58) and Pedro Spajari (22.59) for bronze.

Hungary’s Oszkar Lavotha went 22.71 for sixth, Turkey’s Huseyin Sakci 22.79 for seventh and Russia’s Vladislav Kozlov closed the heat in 22.85 for eighth.

WOMEN’S 200M INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY – Final

  • WR: 2:06.12 Katinka Hosszu (HUN) 3 AUG 2015 Kazan (RUS)
  • CR: 2:11.46 Viktoria Gunes (TUR) 28 AUG 2015 Singapore (SIN)
  • WJ: 2:10.22 Zhou Min (CHN) 17 MAY 2014 Qindao (CHN)

Turkey’s Viktoria Gunes earned her second gold medal of the night and her third gold overall, blowing away the 200 Im field in a meet-record 2:11.03.

Gunes looked firmly in control the entire race, though she did slip the 5th after backstroke after leading on fly. Still, as one of the only breaststrokers in the field (and easily the meet’s best swimmer in that stroke), a Gunes victory never looked too much in doubt.

She put up the best breaststroke split of the field by a full second, and never showed fatigue from her gold-medal 100 breast earlier in the night.

Gunes would win by over a second, with Canada’s Mary-Sophie Harvey going 2:12.37 for silver. Great Britain’s Georgia Coates finished third in 2:12.74.

Italy’s Ilaria Cusinato was 2:13.04 for fourth, just topping the field’s other breaststroke specialist, Runa Imai of Japan (2:13.19). Her Japanese teammate Hiroko Makino was one spot behind in 2:14.03.

Americans took 7th and 8th in the field, with Tatum Wade going 2:15.22 and Brooke Forde 2:15.68.

MEN’S 4X200M FREESTYLE RELAY – Final

  • WR: 6:58.55 United States (USA) 31 JUL 2009 Rome (ITA)
  • CR: 7:15.36 Great Britain (GBR) 29 AUG 2013 Dubai (UAE)
  • WJ: 7:15.36 Great Britain (GBR) 29 AUG 2013 Dubai (UAE)

The men of Team USA finished the night with a bang, crushing the junior world record and winning gold in the 4×200 free relay.

200 free silver medalist Grant Shoults led off in 1:48.10, bettering his individual time and putting the team over two seconds ahead of junior world record pace. Then 200 free winner Maxime Rooney dropped an outstanding 1:46.55 on the second leg, putting the U.S. firmly in control.

That split for Rooney is very similar to the best split on the previous junior world record-holding relay: a 1:46.39 from James Guy, who would go on to win the world title in the 200 free in Kazan.

Sean Grieshop (1:49.82) and Grant House (1:49.29) closed the relay with big splits for the U.S., and the team went 7:13.76 to obliterate the field by four seconds.

Australia was second, with 200 IM champ Clyde Lewis coming up with the biggest split at 1:48.34. Sprint star Kyle Chalmers died off a bit on his split, going out in 52.58 but only going 1:50.13 overall – perhaps feeling the fatigue from his 50 free earlier in the night. Damian Fyfe‘s 1:50.03 leadoff and Joshua Parrish‘s 1:49.26 anchor leg helped the Aussies go 7:17.76, good for silver.

Russia was battling the Australians for silver most of the way, but wound up a way back in the bronze medal position at 7:19.45. Ernest Maksumov had the second-best leadoff split of the event at 1:48.99, and Elisei Stepanov was 1:48.81 on the second leg as Russia surged early. Daniil Antipov (1:51.10) and Aleksandr Prokofev (1:50.55) capped off that third-place relay.

Spain was fourth in 7:21.22, with anchor Joan Sasanovas just sneaking under 1:50 with a 1:49.96 split. Canada was just behind, with Javier Acevedo closing in 1:49.72.

China took sixth in 7:23.36, with Qiu Ziao leading off in 1:49.81. The only other sub-1:50 leadoff leg was Brazil’s Giovanny Lima (1:49.18), but Brazil’s team was DQ’d for a false start on the anchor leg. That left Germany in 7th place at 7:26.99, with Moritz Brandt splitting 1:51.01 on the final leg.

In This Story

99
Leave a Reply

Subscribe
Notify of

99 Comments
newest
oldest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
bobo gigi
8 years ago

I don’t know if it’s just for me but it looks like swimswam becomes once again crazy.
The up/down things have disappeared from my screen, very good idea, but now a “0” is present on the right! 😆
And much more important, I have serious troubles with the site overall. Not the first time it happens. It’s very recurrent unfortunately and I’ve never understood from where came both following problems.
1. Sometimes the pages don’t change, the site is blocked and after 1 or 2 minutes, it’s mentioned, I translate in English, google chrome doesn’t answer anymore. And it happens ONLY on swimswam!
2. Website is offline. An old version of the homepage appears on the… Read more »

ERVINFORTHEWIN
Reply to  bobo gigi
8 years ago

BOBO , i have had similar issues on the website but never felt to share it as it seems .
I hope those loose ends gets fixed as well . Maybe Braden knows what’s going on …

Jorge
Reply to  bobo gigi
8 years ago

Also happens to me (I live in Spain) 🙁

Jorge
Reply to  Jorge
8 years ago

..but I love the up/down things!

bobo gigi
8 years ago

I’m dreaming or it looks like the up/down things have disappeared?
It would be the greatest news of the day.

Rick Mears
Reply to  bobo gigi
8 years ago

Here’s a virtual down vote for old times sake 🙂

Danjohnrob
8 years ago

Question: Does the US keep NAG records for the 50 stroke events (back, breast, fly) for 15-16 (and all the other age-groups)? If not, I think they should start, because there are World, WJr and US National records in these races. It might even encourage our athletes to win medals/set records in these events internationally in the future (if USA Swimming hasn’t noticed, we don’t seem to do too well in these races now).

bobo gigi
Reply to  Danjohnrob
8 years ago

DJR, here are the official US LCM NAG records.
http://www.usaswimming.org/_Rainbow/Documents/f4dc4bcd-823b-4a80-a991-706a3ba7f6c0/USA%20SWIMMING%20NATIONAL%20A%20G%20%20RECORDS%20L.pdf

They keep the 50s of stroke NAG records only for the 10 and under and the 11/12 age categories. Why? I don’t know. Maybe they consider the 50s of stroke just like fun events and more like games for very young kids and not serious events for the older teenagers because they are not olympic events.

Danjohnrob
Reply to  bobo gigi
8 years ago

Thanks, Bobo! I thought that was the case, and I think it’s a mistake. It’s crazy that a US kid could break a WJr Record and not have a NAG record, IMO!

xenon
8 years ago

I’m impressed by Michael Andrew’s 50 fly. He has improved his underwaters and is only about .3 off the best sprinters in the world on the first 15 meters. This means that he is only .3-.4 slower over the last 35 than Manadou and the other top 50 flyers. That’s insane. In terms of top speed over the water, the fly is MA’s best stroke. He is around .7 off the best back and free sprinters in the world over the last 35 meters and a good ways off in the breaststroke. MA may be the faster flyer on top of the water in America.

I hope MA gets to swim fly the medley relay because I’m curious how… Read more »

Hulk Swim
Reply to  xenon
8 years ago

It’s possible. Taylor, Whitley, Andrew, Rooney makes as much sense as Taylor, Andrew, Hoffer, Rooney.

Paul
Reply to  Hulk Swim
8 years ago

I think the Finals relay will be Taylor, Whitley, Andrew, Rooney for sure.

The prelims relay could have a whole array of combinations with Hoffer possibly in there on fly or free, and whether or not they put Andrew on the prelim relay, and if so where? He could swim any of the first 3 legs of the prelim relay. But for finals, i think you have to put MA on the fly and Whitley on the Breast.

bobo gigi
8 years ago

And still off topic but I’ve also found a video of comparison between both 200 fly races by Michael Phelps and Laszlo Cseh this summer. Maybe it can interest some people.
You have the splits’ comparison, the number of strokes per 50m and even the distance of underwaters!
And to think that at that time I said we couldn’t compare…. 😆
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WUvJCxboI4

Danjohnrob
Reply to  bobo gigi
8 years ago

Thanks Bobo! It would have been a tight race. One wonders whether the pressure of Le Clos and Cseh next to him would have make Michael tighten up or swim faster; but, IMO it would have helped him rather than hurting him. Of course, Michael would not have been entered in the 200 fly in Kazan at all, even if he were in Russia. Maybe he’ll be able to look back after Rio and thank USA Swimming for an extra gold from training for and winning the 200 fly in Rio as a result of being unable to compete at Worlds?

Chad Le Clos! The man is a tenacious fighter when it comes to finishing a race, but if you… Read more »

Brando
Reply to  Danjohnrob
8 years ago

I have always been a huge Cseh fan and happy that he could finally reach the pinnacle in one of his strongest events on this stage. After watching the video and reading your comment, do you think that extra weight shift allows him to take fewer strokes than MP in the race although the times are nearly identical (ref. the last 50m)? I remember watching videos of Cseh opening his 200 im at the olympics and his second kick was so short but he was still able to nearly ride MP’s hip the opening 50

Danjohnrob
Reply to  Brando
8 years ago

I think Cseh has a very efficient, long stroke. It seems very suited to the 200 fly, and it just goes to show how important a long stroke is to success in the LCM 100 fly that he does so well in that race too. Speedsters like Cavic and Crocker, etc, swim FAST fly, but it’s hard for them to hold their top speed all the way to the finish.

I’m not sure if Cseh takes less strokes per lap than MP (I’ll have to analyze that), but he never seems to glide into the wall or have to add an extra stroke to finish well, which is hugely important in fly races! Le Clos is a master at touching… Read more »

bobo gigi
8 years ago

Off topic but a swimswam commenter named David wanted a video of the 50 free swim-off between Anthony Ervin and Vlad Morozov at last world championships. I don’t know if he’ll read that page but I’ve found the race. At 5.40 in the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFWirSMLw4Y

bobo gigi
8 years ago

Day 4 full evening session
Better than nothing to have a streaming but the quality….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8cYy746zcw

Danjohnrob
Reply to  bobo gigi
8 years ago

Wow, thanks so much for sharing this Bobo! This was the first session I was able to watch (except highlight videos). All the athletes seem to be having a blast!

It’s a good thing they don’t give medals for singing, because the US swimmers are NOT very good! 😉

bobo gigi
Reply to  Danjohnrob
8 years ago

But the US contingent in the stands is by far the loudest!

bobo gigi
Reply to  bobo gigi
8 years ago

Funny to note that they play in the pool “Waltzing Matilda” after a medal ceremony when there’s an Australian gold and “Party in the USA” when there’s an American gold.

bobo gigi
8 years ago

Atherton backstroke sweep
Gunes very likely breaststroke sweep plus 200 IM
Girls of the meet.
Ruck like Cook can still win the 200 free to add a gold to their collection too.

On the American’s side, disappointing to see Whitley not perform at his real level like a big part of these US kids who peaked 4 weeks ago. But Whitley didn’t need to peak considering the big margin he had over the US competition. Could have saved his taper for the big meet. Too bad. It’s frustrating. Chupkov was beatable. Still a wonderful year for Whitley who is only 15.
Cool to see Andrew win his first gold. A second place in the 50 free… Read more »

swimdoc
Reply to  bobo gigi
8 years ago

If I were in Dwyer’s shoes, I’d be worried about my slot on the 4 X 200 free relay, let alone the individual 200. Phelps, Lochte, Rooney look like better bets for the relay, and who knows what Conger and Haas will do with a year of Eddie’s training until Trials. Not to mention Gothe.

ERVINFORTHEWIN
Reply to  swimdoc
8 years ago

And Malone !!! The Us has got the real potential to have a Serious hardcore 800 free relay next year . Even the brits will not resist to that fire power . . . I see this coming with Rooney piercing the screen here .

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 …

Read More »