2017 World Junior Championships: Day 4 Prelims Live Recap

6th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships

• Wednesday, August 23 – Monday, August 28, 2017
• 50-Meter Course
• Indianapolis (USA)
• Heats 9:30 am EDT / Semifinals and Finals 6 pm EDT (GMT-5)
• Meet Central
• Meet info
• Schedule
• Entries book
• Omega results
• TV/Webcast schedule (USA)
• Live stream NBC Sports
• Live stream FINA (Heats and finals, for subscribers only. Not available in USA, Guam, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Brazil, South Africa, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Brunei, China)
• Live stream FINA YouTube (Heats only, free of charge)

Day 4 prelims at the 2017 World Junior Championships in Indianapolis will feature six events: women’s 50 back (7 heats), men’s 50 fly (10 heats), women’s 400 free (7 heats), men’s 200 breast (7 heats), women’s 200 IM (8 heats), and men’s 4×200 free relay (2 heats).

It will be the first time we see USA’s Alex Walsh, who is top seed in the 200 IM, the only event in which she is entered. Americans Daniel Roy and Reece Whitley will aim for Australia’s Zac Stubblety-Cook in the men’s 200 breast. Hungary’s Anja Kesely is seeded 3.5 seconds faster than the rest of the field in the 400 free. USA’s Michael Andrew is top seed in the men’s 50 fly by three-tenths. And the most competitive race might be the women’s 50 back, where RUS’s Polina Egorova comes in with the top time, but will see a handful of challengers, including USA’s Regan Smith who has already won the 100 and 200 backstrokes.

Saturday, 26 August 2017

Women’s 50m Backstroke – heats

• WJR: 27.49, Minna Atherton (AUS), 2016
• Meet: 27.81, Gabrielle Fa’amausili (NZL), 2015
• Start list W50back

1. Jade Hannah, CAN 28.24
2. Regan Smith, USA 28.43
3. Natsumi Sakai, JPN 28.44
4. Cassie Wild, GBR / Polina Egorova, RUS 28.45
5. –
6. Grace Ariola, USA 28.55
7. Julie Kepp Jensen, DEN 38.76
8. Anna Maine, GBR 28.77
9. Tania Quaglieri, ITA 28.96
10. Mariella Venter, RSA 29.25
11. Victoria Bierre, DEN 29.29
12. Fernanda Goeij, BRA 29.42
13. Yang Yifan, CHN 29.48
14. Tatiana Salcutan, MDA 29.56
15. Anastasiya Shkurdai, BLR 29.57
16. Matilda Wangoma, AUS 29.58

The first swimmer to break the 30 second mark was Tatiana Salcutan (MDA) in the last heat before the circle seeds, with 29.56. The three middle lanes of the next heat finished half a body length ahead of the field, led by CAN’s Jade Hannah with 28.24. USA’s Grace Ariola was second in the heat in 28.55, while Julie Kepp Jensen of DEN took third in 28.76.

Regan Smith won the penultimate heat in 28.43, a drop of 3/10. Natsumi Sakai of JPN was second by 1/100 in 28.44, and GBR’s Anna Maine placed third in 28.77.

The final heat produced a tie from RUS’s Polina Egorova and GBR’s Cassie Wild, both of whom stopped the clock at 28.45. Tania Quaglieri of ITA touched third in 28.96.

Men’s 50m Butterfly – heats

• WJR: 23.28, Evgeny Sedov (RUS), 2014
• Meet: 23.61, Daniel Bell (NZL), 2008
• Start list M50fly

1. Michael Andrew, USA 23.48
2. Andrei Minakov, RUS 23.94
3. Adilbek Mussin KAZ 23.96
4. Luca Nik Armbruster, GER 24.05
5. Alberto Razzetti, ITA 24.26
6. Abdelrahman Sameh EGY 24.28
7. Shen Jihao CHN 24.33
8. Umitcan Gures, TUR 24.37
9. Kregor Zirk, EST 24.39
10. Egor Kuimov, RUS 24.40
11. Kristof Milak, HUN 24.41
12. Jacob Peters, GBR 24.50
13. Jordan Brunt, AUS 24.59
14. Shinnosuke Ishikawa, JPN 24.73
15. Jan Eric Friese, GER 24.78
16. Kamil Kazmierczak, POL 24.88

JPN’s Shinnosuke Iskikawa dropped the first sub-25 in heat 7 of 10, touching just ahead of Jawad Syoud of ALG (25.07). EGY’s Abdelrahman Sameh won the first circle-seed in 24.28, edging EST’s Kregor Zirk (24.39), RUS’s Egor Kuimov (24.40), and HUN’s Kristof Milak (24.41).

Andrei Minakov of RUS cracked a 23.94 to win the penultimate heat over Alberto Razzetti of ITA (24.26) and Shen Jiahao of CHN (24.33). Michael Andrew of USA finished the session with a new Championship Record of 23.48, knocking .15 off the 2008 mark set by Daniel Bell of New Zealand. Second was Adilbek Mussin of KAS in 23.96, then Luca Nik Armbruster of GER (24.05).

Women’s 400m Freestyle – heats

• WJR: 3:58.37, Katie Ledecky (USA), 2014
• Meet: 4:06.17, Tasmin Cook (AUS), 2015
• Start list W400free

1. Anastasiia Kirpichnikova, RUS 4:12.54
2. Waka Kobori, JPN 4:13.08
3. Delfina Pignatiello, ARG 4:13.42
4. Sharni Robinson, AUS 4:13.75
5. Anja Kesely, HUN 4:13.87
6. Molly Batchelor, AUS 4:14.25
7. Leah Braswell, USA 4:14.96
8. Esther Morillo Lopez, ESP 4:15.13

Victoria Kwan of CAN won a hotly contested heat 4, touching the wall with 4:20.20 ahead of COL’s Maria Clara Roman (4:20.45). Nikki Miller of GBR won the next heat in an even closer battle, going 4:16.17 over ITA’s Anna Chiara Mascolo (4:16.23) and Helena Moreno of CRC (4:20.10).

Anastasiia Kirpichnikova of RUS won the first of two circle-seeded heats with 4:12.54. Second in that heat was Waka Kobori of JPN with 4:13.08. AUS’s Molly Batchelor touched out USA’s Leah Braswell for third, 4:14.25 to 4:14.96.

The final heat went to Delfina Pignatiello of ARG, who won the 800 free on Thursday night. Behind her, Sharni Robinson of AUS just touched out Anja Kesely of HUN, 4:13.75 to 4:13.87.

Men’s 200m Breaststroke – heats

• WJR: 2:08.71, Qin Haiyang, 2017
• Meet: 2:10.19, Anton Chupkov (RUS), 2015
• Start list M200breast

1. Daniel Roy, USA 2:11.72
2. Reece Whitley, USA 2:11.85
3. Ikuma Osaki, JPN 2:12.17
4. Zac Stubblety-Cook, AUS 2:12.43
5. Valentin Bayer, AUT 2:12.52
6. Nicolo Martinenghi, ITA 2:12.56
7. Filip Chrapavy, CZE 2:13.32
8. Yu Hanaguruma, JPN 2:13.34

Lyubomir Epitrpol of BUL produced the first sub-2:20 in heat 4 with 2:17.68 over CAN’s Gabe Mastromatteo (2:18.18). JPN’s Ikuma Osaki opened the circle-seeded heats with a 2:12.17, just touching out Valentin Bayer of AUT (2:12.52) and ITA’s Nicolo Martinenghi (2:12.56).

Reece Whitley of USA dominated the penultimate heat, getting out to an early lead and never looking back. He touched in 2:11.85, taking nearly 6/10 off his previous best. GER’s Wassili Kuhn touched second in 2:14.05, with Evgenii Somov of RUS third in 2:14.23.

USA’s Daniel Roy, like his teammate before him, took his race out quickly and never gave up the lead. He won the final heat in 2:11.72 for the morning’s top qualifying time. Behind him, Zac Stubblety-Cook of AUS came to the wall in 2:12.43, while Filip Chrapavy of CZE touched third with 2:13.32.

Women’s 200m Individual Medley – heats

• WJR: 2:09.98, Rikako Ikee (JPN), 2017
• Meet: 2:11.03, Viktoria Zeynep Gunes (TUR), 2015
• Start list W200IM

1. Alex Walsh, USA 2:13.80
2. Kayla Sanchez, CAN 2:13.88
3. Ciara Schlosshan, GBR 2:14.36
4. Cyrielle Duhamel, FRA 2:14.69
5. Zoe Bartel, USA 2:14.83
6. Miku Kojima, JPN 2:14.84
7. Amy Bell, GBR 2:15.73
8. Julia Maria Mrozinski, GER 2:15.92

Camila Mello of BRA dropped just over 4/10 to win heat 5 with the first sub-2:20, 2:17.59, as she touched ahead of KAZ’s Alexandra Shatskikh (2:18.80). Miko Kojima of JPN kicked off the circle seeds with a 2:14.84 win. She was followed by Irina Krivonogova of RUS (2:16.52) and Tara Vovk of SLO (2:17.12).

CAN’s Kayla Sanchez cracked a 2:13.88 to win the penultimate heat, coming from behind over the second half to overtake FRA’s Cyrielle Duhamel, who finished second with 2:14.69. Third in the heat was GBR’s Amy Bell with 2:15.73.

Ciara Schlosshan of GBR went out quickly in the final heat, getting in front of USA’s Alex Walsh on the fly leg. Walsh pulled to the front on the backstroke, but it was her teammate Zoe Bartel who took over the lead at the 150 wall, after splitting a 36.7 on the breast. Both Walsh and Schlosshan passed Bartel over the final 50 meters, though, and at the touch it was Walsh with 2:13.80, Schlosshan with 2:14.36, and Bartel with 2:14.83.

Men’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay – heats

• WJR: 7:13.76, United States, 2015
• Meet: 7:13.76, United States, 2015
• Start list M4x200free

1. United States 7:14.64
2. Spain 7:17.23
3. Russian Federation 7:17.57
4. Australia 7:20.60
5. Hungary 7.22.68
6. Poland 7:22.97
7. Germany 7:25.40
8. Brazil 7:25.79

Team USA battled Spain and Russian Federation in heat 1, but ultimately the Americans’ depth paid off as all four of their legs swam sub-1:50s. Jack LeVant led off with 1:48.75, touching just after Spain’s Cesar Castro (1:48.66). Cody Bybee took over for USA, and while he turned in a respectable 1:49.43, Alex Ramos’ 1:48.32 put Spain up by 1.2 seconds heading into the third leg. Carson Foster cracked a 1:48.03, the second-fastest split of the morning, to pull the USA back in front, and Drew Kibler brought it home in 1:48.43.

Spain (Castro, Ramos, Javier Villanueva Iglesias and Francisco Jose Arevalo Rubio) held off a fast-charging Russian Federation (Petr Zhikharev, Mikhail Bocharnikov, Maksim Aleksandrov, and Martin Malyutin) to finish second with 7:17.23. The fastest split of the morning belonged to the RUS anchor, Malyutin, who went 1:47.82 pursuing Arevalo Rubio on the end.

Australia (Zachary Attard, Samuel Wendt, Nathan Robinson, and Elijah Winnington) won the second heat over Hungary (Akos Kalmar, Marton Barta, David Lakatos, and Balazs Hollo) and Germany (Marius Zobel, Rafael Miroslaw, Daniel Pinneker, and Josha Salchow).