2017 World Junior Championships: Day 2 Finals Live Recap

6TH FINA WORLD JUNIOR SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Day 2 finals are set to get underway from Indianapolis at the 2017 World Junior Championships, with a whopping eleven events on the schedule.

We’ll get going right away with four finals in the men’s 100 back, women’s 200 fly, men’s 200 free and women’s 50 breast. We’ll then have semi-finals in the men’s 100 fly and women’s 100 free, before three more finals in the men’s 100 breast, women’s 100 back and men’s 200 IM. The session will then wrap with the fastest heat of the women’s 800 free and the final of the mixed 400 medley relay.

You can find complete relay lineups for that mixed medley here. Notable substitutions from the morning include Taylor Ruck (back) and Penny Oleksiak (fly) for Canada, and an entirely new American team with Regan SmithReece WhitleyNicolas Albiero and Grace Ariola.

Men’s 100 Back Final

  1. Hugo Gonzalez, ESP, 54.27
  2. Conor Ferguson, IRL, 54.51
  3. Daniel Martin, ROU, 54.55

Spain’s Hugo Gonzalez turned 5th at the 50m wall but charged home in 27.62 to overtake everyone and win gold in the men’s 100 back, posting a new championship record time of 54.27. That swim breaks the 2015 record of Robert Glinta (54.30).

Ireland’s Conor Ferguson was the only other man to come home sub-28, running down early leader Daniel Martin for the silver in 54.51 to Martin’s 54.55. Martin makes it two straight championships with a Romanian on the podium after Glinta’s win in Singapore.

American Drew Kibler was the fourth to get under 55, going 54.97 with Poland’s Kacper Stokowski (55.04) and the other American Nicolas Albiero (55.29) 5th and 6th.

Women’s 200 Fly Final

  1. Emily Large, GBR, 2:07.74
  2. Suzuka Hasegawa, JPN, 2:08.29
  3. Keanna MacInnes, GBR, 2:09.64

Great Britain’s Emily Large went out aggressively in the women’s 200 fly final, and held a lead of six tenths over junior world record holder Suzuka Hasegawa with 50 metres to go. Large held strong, nearly matching Hasegawa’s final 50 split to hold her off and win gold in 2:07.74. Hasegawa took the silver in 2:08.29, and Keanna MacInnes made it two Brits on the podium with a late charge for bronze in 2:09.64.

MacInnes passed Canada’s Mabel Zavaros on that final 50, as Zavaros settled for 4th in 2:09.79. Germany’s Julia Mrozinski took 5th in 2:11.18.

Men’s 200 Free Final

  • WJR: 1:47.00, Alexei Sancov (MOL), 2017
  • Meet: 1:47.55, Mack Horton (AUS), 2013
  • Start List
  1. Ivan Girev, RUS, 1:46.40
  2. Nandor Nemeth, HUN, 1:46.79
  3. Elijah Winnington, AUS, 1:46.81

Australian Elijah Winnington was out fast in the men’s 200 free final, flipping at the 100 wall in 52.20, but Russia’s Ivan Girev overtook the lead with a devastating 27.03 third 50. He didn’t slow down coming home, spitting 26.79, as Girev claimed gold in a new meet and junior world record of 1:46.40.

Hungary’s Nandor Nemeth actually out-split Girev on the back half, equalling his 27.03 third 50 and closing better in 26.66 to move up from 6th at the halfway mark to silver in 1:46.79. Winnington held strong, taking bronze in 1:46.81. All three medalists go lower than junior world record (which is still pending ratification) of Moldovia’s Alexei Sancov which stood at 1:47.00.

Americans Patrick Callan (1:47.61) and Trey Freeman (1:47.79) took 4th and 5th, as all of the top five registered new best times.

Women’s 50 Breast Final

  • WJR: 29.86 (World Best Time)
  • Meet: 29.86, Ruta Meilutyte (LTU), 2013
  • Start List
  1. Emily Weiss, USA, 30.78
  2. Faith Knelson, CAN, 30.91
  3. Mona McSharry, IRL, 30.97

In another quick final, Emily Weiss of the United States lowered her PB by over a tenth to take gold in the women’s 50 breast in 30.78. Canadian Faith Knelson broke 31 for the first time for silver in 30.91, and Ireland’s Mona McSharry won bronze in 30.97.

Zoe Bartel had a good swim for 4th in 31.28, and Poland’s Weronika Hallmann was 5th in 31.50. The other three finalists were relatively slower than the semi-finals, all over 32 seconds after the cut-off for the final was 31.90.

Men’s 100 Fly Semi-Finals

  1. Andrei Minakov, RUS, 52.23
  2. Kristof Milak, HUN, 52.61
  3. Shinnosuke Ishikawa, JPN, 52.82
  4. Jordan Brunt, AUS, 52.85
  5. Umitcan Gures, TUR, 52.86
  6. Eric Friese, GER, 52.92
  7. Kregor Zirk, EST, 52.98
  8. Egor Kuimov, RUS, 53.08

The swimmers in the first semi-final of the men’s 100 fly really stepped up, as six of them broke 53 seconds and subsequently all advance to tomorrow’s final. They were led by Russian Andrei Minakov, who broke his countryman Daniil Pakhomov‘s meet record of 52.28 in 52.23 which stands up as the top seed.

He was followed by Shinnosuke IshikawaJordan BruntUmitcan GuresEric Friese and Kregor Zirk who all came within 52.82 and 52.98 to qualify 3rd through 7th overall.

Junior world record holder Kristof Milak was then the lone man to break 53 from semi 2, clocking 52.61 with a quick 27.67 back half to qualify 2nd overall. Russia’s Egor Kuimov took 2nd in the heat in 53.08, and squeaks into the final in 8th.

Shortly after swimming the 100 back final, Americans Nicolas Albiero (53.53) and Drew Kibler (53.80) placed t-10th and 15th.

Women’s 100 Free Semi-Finals

  1. Rikako Ikee, JPN, 54.06
  2. Freya Anderson, GBR, 54.31
  3. Kayla Sanchez, CAN, 54.62
  4. Rebecca Smith, CAN, 54.73
  5. Barbora Seemanonva, CZE, 55.07
  6. Grace Ariola, USA, 55.08
  7. Vasilissa Buinaia, RUS / Sayuki Ouchi, JPN, 55.14

Canada’s Rebecca Smith picked up the win in semi-final 1 of the women’s 100 free, bettering her prelim swim in 54.73. She was followed by Barbora Seemanova (55.07) of the Czech Republic and Grace Ariola of the United States.

The next semi was dominated by three swimmers, as Kayla Sanchez got out fast but Rikako Ikee and Freya Anderson ran her down with the only sub-28 back halfs in the field as the three were well ahead of the rest. Ikee picked up the heat win in 54.06, followed by Anderson in 54.31 and Sanchez in 54.62. Those three sit atop the leaderboard, but were the only three to qualify for the final out of that semi.

Russia’s Vasilissa Buinaia and Japan’s Sayuki Ouchi tied for 4th in the first semi, and end up tying for 7th and head into the final at 55.14. American Lucie Nordmann placed 9th in 55.39.

Men’s 100 Breast Final

  1. Nicolo Martinenghi, ITA, 59.58
  2. Reece Whitley, USA, 1:00.08
  3. Michael Andrew, USA, 1:00.37

He wasn’t quite as fast as the prelims or the semis, but it didn’t matter as Italy’s Nicolo Martinenghi won gold in the men’s 100 breast in a time of 59.58. After breaking the junior world record last night in 59.01, Martinenghi was out just a tick slower tonight before he tied a bit at the finish.

Reece Whitley led a 2-3 finish for the U.S., posting the fastest back half in 31.68 to jump from 6th to 2nd in a new personal best of 1:00.08. Michael Andrew was overtaken by Whitley after sitting 2nd at the 50 in 27.84, but held on for bronze in 1:00.37. He’ll swim the 200 IM final in just a few minutes.

Russia’s Evgenii Somov (1:00.93) and Italy’s Alessandro Pinzuti (1:01.01) took 4th and 5th.

Women’s 100 Back Final

  1. Regan Smith, USA, 59.11
  2. Taylor Ruck, CAN, 59.23
  3. Jade Hannah, CAN, 59.62

The highly anticipated final in the women’s 100 back didn’t disappoint, as incredibly five women broke a minute, led by American Regan Smith in a new junior world record of 59.11. Smith lowers the 59.28 mark set by Canada’s Taylor Ruck in the semi-finals.

Ruck bettered her best time once again, going 59.23 for the silver medal, with her teammate Jade Hannah cracking the minute barrier for the first time in 59.62 to win bronze.

Russia’s Polina Egorova was out 1st in 28.66, though the top four were separated by just a tenth at the 50. She ended up 4th in 59.75, just off her 59.62 from the European Junior Championships where she won gold.

Japan’s Natsumi Sakai joined them under a minute in 59.91 for 5th, and Grace Ariola was back in the pool shortly after the 100 free semis, taking 6th in 1:00.58.

Men’s 200 IM Final

  1. Johannes Hintze, GER, 1:59.03
  2. Kieran Smith, USA, 1:59.56
  3. Marton Barta, HUN, 2:00.14

Germany’s Johannes Hintze moved into the lead of the men’s 200 IM final on the breaststroke leg, splitting 34.39, and held off American Kieran Smith coming home in 27.93 to win gold in 1:59.03. The swim breaks Gunnar Bentz‘s meet record of 1:59.44 from 2013.

Smith took over the lead on the backstroke with a 30.32 split, fell to 3rd on breast, and closed faster than anyone in 27.76 to move back up to 2nd and win silver in 1:59.56, his first time under 2:00. Hungary’s Marton Barta won bronze in 2:00.14, moving up from 6th, to 5th, to 4th and then 3rd at the finish with a final 50 of 28.18.

Spain’s Hugo Gonzalez also came home strong to overtake Brazil’s Caio Pumputis, who was 2nd heading into the freestyle, placing 4th in 2:00.61 to Pumputis’ 2:00.97.

Fresh out of the 100 breaststroke, Michael Andrew was out quick on the fly as usual but ran out of gas and placed 8th.

Women’s 800 Free (Timed Final)

  • WJR: 8:11.00, Katie Ledecky (USA), 2014
  • Meet: 8:27.55, Sierra Schmidt (USA), 2015
  • Start List
  1. Delfina Pignatiello, ARG, 8:25.22
  2. Ajna Kesley, HUN, 8:30.62
  3. Beatriz Cons Gestido, ESP, 8:30.85

Argentina’s Delfina Pignatiello got out ahead of the top seeded heat in the women’s 800 and stayed there, extending her lead on the back half to win in a new meet record time of 8:25.22. She also lowers her own Argentinian national record.

Hungary’s Ajna Kesely had broken free of American Erica Sullivan and looked to have a clear path to silver, but Spain’s Beatriz Cons Gestido made a late charge to pull even with her with 50 metres to go. Kesely managed to fend her off with a 30.45 final 50, securing silver in 8:30.62 with the Spaniard taking bronze in 8:30.85.

Anastasia Kirpichnikova closed faster than anyone in 29.43 and nearly made her way into the medal picture, taking 4th in 8:31.12, and Italy’s Giulia Salin took 5th in 8:32.11. Sullivan ended up fading to 8th in 8:39.20.

Mixed 4×100 Medley Relay Final

  • WJR: 3:45.85, Russia, 2015
  • Meet: 3:45.85, Russia, 2015
  • Start List
  1. Canada, 3:46.36
  2. United States, 3:46.80
  3. Russia, 3:48.32

The Americans got out to a great start in the mixed medley relay, as Regan Smith went better than she did in the individual 100 back in a time of 58.95. Though it won’t officially count as a junior world record because it was done in a mixed relay, it was a sensational performance.

Reece Whitley followed up with a 59.42 breaststroke split, and given his 0.33 reaction he was quicker through the water than he was winning silver in the individual earlier in the night. Nicolas Albiero had a strong 53.66 fly split, and it all came down to Grace Ariola as she tried to hold off Canada’s Ruslan Gaziev in her third swim of the night.

Gaziev and the Canadians were 5th with 100m to go, but having a man on the anchor gave them a chance. Gaziev split 49.30 to make up the five second deficit and earn the Canadians the gold in 3:46.36 to 3:46.80 for the U.S..

Taylor Ruck had led them off in 59.27, right on her best, and Gabe Mastromatteo (1:00.81) and Penny Oleksiak (56.98) both had massive legs on breast and fly to keep them in the mix. The Canadians now have two relay gold medals two nights into the competition.

The Russians won bronze, with a quick 51.65 fly leg from Egor Kuimov. Nicolo Martinenghi also had a notable 59.12 breaststroke split for Italy, who placed 5th (3:51.46) just behind Great Britain (3:51.32).

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Dee
6 years ago

Men’s 200rr was incredible – Previous WJR holder wouldn’t have medalled! Didnt see Nemwth dropping time again after his Juniors/Worlds double, so that came as pleasant surprise. Expected big things from Girev & Winnington. Three hugely talented young men. Nice PB for Elliot.

Women’s 200fl – A great race for GBR. Nice to see Large drop after her plateau last year. Youngest in the final, too, so she’ll have next year to take a run at Hasegawa’s WJR. Zavaros & MacInnes both swam superbly, can’t ask for more than PBs.

Women 50br – Pleased for McSharry, but Weiss looks a real find. Still blows my mind – Meilutyte went 29.4 at her age!!

Men 100bk – If Gonzalez can… Read more »

Taa
6 years ago

My opinion on MA is that he is currently the equivalent of a burnt out senior year college sprinter at his final NCAA championship meet. Sure he can A final the 50 free but what good is 5 th or 6th place in this race. It gets u nothing internationally. My advice for him would be to get as far away from your mother as possible. I.e. Go live and train on your own and get some life experience.

Troy
Reply to  Taa
6 years ago

Are there any good writeups on the drama surrounding MA? I’m Australian so haven’t really been taking notice.

NEWTOSWIMSWAM
Reply to  Taa
6 years ago

“….get as far away from your mother as possible…” – best comment yet!!

ERVINFORTHEWIN
Reply to  NEWTOSWIMSWAM
6 years ago

Yup

stanford fan
6 years ago

isn’t emily weiss the girl who committed to indiana as a rising junior? impressive.

sccoach
6 years ago

Does anyone know if Andrei Minakov (top seed 15 year old from Russia in 100 fly) still trains with the Terrapins in California? I didn’t see him in any American meets this summer

TeamMinakov
Reply to  sccoach
6 years ago

Yes, he does. He was mostly with Russian national team this year and spent less time at Terrapins. Most probably will be at US meets latter this year.

sccoach
Reply to  TeamMinakov
6 years ago

Cool, thanks. He is fun to watch, just hadn’t seen him in awhile

Pvdh
6 years ago

Can someone tell me what MA does after this meet? His junior status is finished. He’s not making progress. And no option to swim collegiately. He’s been equaled (more or less) by Whitley in the 100 breast and Kieran Smith in the 200im. Those guys will head off to Cal and Florida in the future, where they will have some of the best coaches and training groups in the world. Olympic and Worlds medal factories. Andrew will continue training by himself with a method that has clearly stalled and won’t allow him to progress. How many times have we seen the exact same fade (to put it lightly) in the 200im.

50 free is left now? Probably will see… Read more »

sven
Reply to  Pvdh
6 years ago

I don’t think the criticisms are too harsh, I just think they’re wrong. He and his dad tried some new things with training this year and it didn’t work. Also, after a year totally dedicated to the Olympic Trials (which he did extremely well at), it’s hard to imagine he’s got the same focus and fire in training. It seems absurd to me how quick people are to denounce their methods when a whole lot of last year’s Olympic team is also having an off year.

I’m not making any excuses for that IM, I think that just comes down to mental toughness, but the sheer drama I’m seeing about an 18 year old being half a second off… Read more »

DrSwimPhil
Reply to  sven
6 years ago

He’s a professional athlete. That brings greater scrutiny. Just the reality of the situation

G.I.N.A
Reply to  DrSwimPhil
6 years ago

Lucky SWSWammers did not erect a statue to him or they would be baying to tear it down .

sven
Reply to  DrSwimPhil
6 years ago

That’s exactly the thing: Plenty of other pros and Rio Olympians are having bad years and MA is the one everyone is forecasting doom over. It just doesn’t make any sense.

DrSwimPhil
Reply to  sven
6 years ago

Uhh…they made Rio, though…

sven
Reply to  DrSwimPhil
6 years ago

Doesnt matter, he still trained all year and devoted his whole life to it. No way his heart has been in his training the same way since then. Happens to plenty of swimmers after the Olympics, whether they make it or not.

SchoolingFTW
Reply to  sven
6 years ago

Are you saying that the Andrews no longer have complete faith in USRPT?

Honestly I’m shocked.

Caleb
Reply to  sven
6 years ago

The pile-on is overkill – it’s not like his career is done – but last year wasn’t really a good one either, much less great. It’s been a 3- or 4- year fade and in terms of swimming, it’s pretty clear he needs to change things up. It’s presumptuous to think MA or his family is oblivious to this so well just have to see what happens. I’ll be rooting for fast swims, regardless.

sven
Reply to  Caleb
6 years ago

Well, sure, of course he hasn’t done as well in the past 3 years. Did you see his 13-14 career? You cannot sustain that upward trajectory. At 17, he broke a minute in the 100 breast and broke 2 minutes in the IM, and was a half second away from making the Olympic team. I don’t understand how anyone can say that isn’t a good year. The fact that people have to compare him to Phelps at that age is telling, because MA was faster at 17 than most other National Teamers were. Phelps is a freak, invoking his name is the nuclear option of swim comparisons.

Here’s a big misunderstanding I think people have about USRPT: the slogan… Read more »

samuel huntington
Reply to  Pvdh
6 years ago

I wonder the same thing. the 50 free looks like his best event right now but there’s of course several huge names ahead of him in that. idk.

Steve Nolan
Reply to  Pvdh
6 years ago

It’s funny, five years ago I kinda wanted to kid to flop just to shut down all the incessant hype he was getting. It has swung very far in the other direction, though! Seems everyone’s kinda got the “glass half empty” view of the kid right now.

The glass half full perspective – he’s obviously still incredibly talented. Making finals at Nats in all four stroke 50s when you’re 18 is pretty damn good, and he still put up some respectable 100s and can occasionally still put together a 2 IM. If a random other 18 yo with less hype than MA – or, literally any other 18 yo besides like, Phelps – did that, I’m pretty sure people would… Read more »

Tarheel26
Reply to  Steve Nolan
6 years ago

No one is doubting his talent or potential…just stating he hasn’t accomplished enough for the press or the sponsorships. He just hasn’t, plain and simple, he’s an adult swimmer now, competing at highest level, he has to win a major long course meet or break a major long course record at the adult level to earn the sponsorship and hype, which he has not done

Steve Nolan
Reply to  Tarheel26
6 years ago

What’s? No it doesn’t. Did you put the same expectations on him when he was a 14 yo professional?

I agree that some of the hype is a bit much, but if anything, we as discerning swim fans should be able to see through it.

Hell, I assume international swimmers go “pro” at a similar age, we should set expectations similarly.

Reply to  Tarheel26
6 years ago

While I understand your point, he is not competing as an adult right now. He’s at the World Junior Championships. He’s also only 18 and has a short course world championship title to his name. That’s worth far more than nothing. To some of us who really have high hopes for age group swimmers, this stall can seem like a downer. But his sponsors obviously disagree that he hasn’t accomplished enough to earn it…

Tarheel26
Reply to  Lauren Neidigh
6 years ago

Let’s see if they disagree…tell me how much money he makes this year and if they renew his contracts. Any smart sponsor at his age would have performance based incentives, he hasn’t performed…

Lawrie Fabian
6 years ago

Did Michael Andrew just swim nearly 8 seconds below his previous WJR?
Should ‘the next great athlete in US swimming’ be winning at WJ? Loads of hype around him turning pro a couple of years back.
Not so much attention now!!!

Caleb
Reply to  Lawrie Fabian
6 years ago

Nope, no attention, people have totally forgotten him as you can see by there being more comments about the 8th place IM finish than every other event combined.

Pvdh
6 years ago

58. at fifteen. FIFTEEN

DrSwimPhil
6 years ago

Mixed medley relays are a total clown show. It’s extremely bad optics for women’s swimming.

DrSwimPhil
Reply to  DrSwimPhil
6 years ago

A ton of downvotes, but no replies as a rebuttal…I’m willing to hear the opposing point of view. I just don’t see it. I see people thinking “haha, it’s cool to see a guy run down a girl by 6+ seconds, even though that girl is one of the best swimmers in the world/meet”. I literally heard that tonight by a much “higher up”…I’m far from a PC person, but this….yeah, this isn’t good for our sport overall.

Pvdh
Reply to  DrSwimPhil
6 years ago

I agree that it shouldn’t be added to olympics, but not for that reason. My personal reasoning is that this race is going to be so insanely lopsided in the favor of the US at every Olympics. We could probably put up like 3 separate relays that would win the gold year in year out. Other countries need the perfect storm of talent to come close.

Some years countries like Russia, China, GBR, Australia, etc..,will have strong male teams and other years strong female teams. Both, however, coming together every four years in almost impossible. The US on the other hand, even at our worst, will field an insanely favored team.

For most countries, using both genders is… Read more »

DrSwimPhil
Reply to  Pvdh
6 years ago

Thank you for one reason (although a reason you agree with me)…..

Funny, though…still getting downvoted yet zero explanation as to why….even with a quote from a FINA official who’s a big time (male) “in the know” person…..apparently we (as a whole) honestly don’t ultimately value women’s swimming as a swimming culture…good to know.

Taa
Reply to  DrSwimPhil
6 years ago

This type of event has been around forever in Paralympic swimming. They do relays using swimmers of different classifications or levels of disability and the teams put them in their preferred order so in many cases you see less disabled swimmers trying to run down more disabled swimmers and you may not have any idea who is going to win by the time the 4th swimmer hits the water. As a reference point view the London 2012 women’s 34 point medley relay with 4 teams crashing the finish at the same time. You cannot tell me that that cannot be exciting when it comes together like that race did.

Carlo
Reply to  Taa
6 years ago

No not exciting if the US wins the mixed relays every time. We want rivalries. Both individual and national.

Taa
Reply to  Carlo
6 years ago

People are giving USA too much credit in this event. They didn’t win tonight and they didn’t win at 2015 worlds. And there are countries like Hungary that would get a great deal of pride out of winning any medal. In 2 or 3 years, a lot can change certainly Canada and Hungary have some great juniors that could step up and England and Russia are still threats if they can put the right 4 pieces together

SchoolingFTW
Reply to  Taa
6 years ago

The thing is, USA has by far the most depth. USA can rest the best swimmers in the morning prelims, so they can be fresh in the relays finals. No other countries can afford to do so. The heavier work load due to swimming more relays prelims and finals also impact negatively the individual swims of the swimmers from smaller countries.

We saw it in Rio, we saw it in Budapest.

commonwombat
Reply to  SchoolingFTW
6 years ago

You hit the nail on the head. Even with the “standard” relays, most other nations (including medal contenders) may have only limited/no scope for resting their top seeds from relay heats whereas USA is unique in doing so. Mixed relays just add 1-2 extra layers which is still seeing a number of countries making the call as to how seriously (if at all) they may pursue each of these relays. For some, that equation will come out on the credit side and they WILL seriously pursue them whilst for others who may be “undermanned”, the cost/benefit analysis will not add up.

ERVINFORTHEWIN
Reply to  SchoolingFTW
6 years ago

True – Usa nearly took all the Golds in all relays back to back Rio – Budapest . Insane depth

Carlo
Reply to  Taa
6 years ago

TAA did you mean england or Britain?
Britain,s women are weak compared to their men. really weak. I don’t see them putting up a mixed relay at a major senior championship in a long time. Britain doesn’t field relays in events where they have no chance and will be embarassed.

I don’t see how you think hungary will be competitive in the mixed medley in the future. Do they have a world class male backstroker coming up?
They have Milak on butterfly but do they have a solid breastsroker (male or female ) coming up?
Milak is just one leg. Hosszu is not getting any younger. Which male is swimming backstroke for them? Which female is swimming… Read more »

DrSwimPhil
Reply to  Taa
6 years ago

Ok, so instead of bad optics for women’s swimming (mixed medleys), we’re talking about bad optics for “more disabled” swimmers…sorry, I don’t see that as “exciting”.

About James Sutherland

James Sutherland

James swam five years at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, specializing in the 200 free, back and IM. He finished up his collegiate swimming career in 2018, graduating with a bachelor's degree in economics. In 2019 he completed his graduate degree in sports journalism. Prior to going to Laurentian, James swam …

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