2017 World Junior Championships: Day 5 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)

The penultimate day of competition at the 2017 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships will feature 12 heats of men’s 100 free, 8 heats of women’s 100 fly, 5 heats of men’s 400 IM, 10 heats of women’s 50 free, 8 heats of men’s 50 breast, 2 heats of women’s 4×100 free, and 3 heats of women’s 1500 free.

On the men’s side, top-seeded Nandor Nemeth of HUN, 48.64, is nearly 1 second faster than his next closest competitor in the 100 free. Nemeth was instrumental in running down the USA in the men’s 4×200 free relay on Saturday night. Hugo Gonzalez of ESP, soon to be an Auburn Tiger, is #1 seed in the 400 IM with 4:17.27. In the 50 breast, World Junior Record-holder Nicolo Martinenghi of ITA leads the field by nearly half a second with 26.97. #2 seed American Michael Andrew, who has already won gold in the 50 back and 50 free, will look to unseat Martinenghi at the top.

The top seed in the women’s 100 fly is Rikako Ikee of JPN. She comes in with 56.86, 1.3 seconds faster than the field. Ikee broke the WJR in the 50 fly on Saturday night. Grace Ariola of USA (25.03) and Barbora Seemanova of CZE (25.06), seeded 1 and 2 in the 50 free, are 4/10 faster than the next wave of competitors.

Sunday, 27 August 2017

Men’s 100m Freestyle – heats

• WJR: 47.58, Kyle Chalmers (AUS), 2016
• Meet: 48.47, Kyle Chalmers (AUS), 2015
• Start list M100free

1. Breno Correia, BRA 49.79
2. Alex Ramos, ESP 49.80
3. Hayata Ito, JPN / Bartosz Piszczorowicz POL 49.96
4. –
5. Nandor Nemeth, HUN 50.02
6. Alberto Mestre, VEN 50.14
7. Maxime Grousset, FRA 50.16
8. Elliot Clogg, GBR 50.18
9. Daniel Krueger, USA 50.22
10. Ivan Girev, RUS 50.39
11. Davide Nardini, ITA 50.41
12. Jordan Brunt AUS 50.46
13. Matthew Willenbring USA / Lucas Peixoto BRA 50.48
14. –
15. Kregor Zirk, EST 50.49
16. Ruslan Gaziev, CAN 50.50

The first to pop a big time in heats of men’s 100 free was Marcel Primozic of SLO, who ripped a 51.55 to win heat 5, dropping 2.2 seconds. Two heats later Artur Barseghyan of ARM eclipsed that with 51.49, with Mohamed Ghaffari of TUN just behind in 51.60. SRB’s Aleksa Bobar was the first sub-51, going 50.65 to take heat 8. Italy’s Francesco Peron won the last heat before the circle seeds in 50.70.

Hayata Ito of JPN opened the championship heats with a 49.96, touching ahead of FRA’s Maxime Grousset (50.16) and GBR’s Elliot Clogg (50.18). In the next heat Alex Ramos of ESP cracked a 49.80 to win from the outside lane, over RUS’s Ivan Girev (50.39) and USA’s Matthew Willenbring (50.48).

Breno Correia of BRA won the final heat in 49.79, with POL’s Bartosz Piszczorowicz (49.96) and HUN’s Nandor Nemeth (50.02) just behind.

Women’s 100m Butterfly – heats

• WJR: 56.46, Penny Oleksiak (CAN), 2016
• CR: 58.28, Rikako Ikee (JPN), 2015
• Start list W100fly

1. Rikako Ikee, JPN 58.93
2. Rebecca Smith, CAN 58.99
3. Emily Large, GBR 59.25
4. Regan Smith, USA 59.60
5. Suzuka Hasegawa, JPN 59.61
6. Mabel Zavaros, CAN 59.68
7. Sara Junevik, SWE 59.90
8. Polina Egorova, RUS 1:00.26
9. Hanna Rosvall, SWE 1:00.29
10. Keanna MacInnes, GBR 1:00.52
11. Sofya Lobova, RUS 1:00.65
12. Kayla Costa, AUS 1:01.04
13. Aleyna Ozkan, TUR 1:01.06
14. Julia Maria Mrozinski, GER 1:01.34
15. Cecilie Wiuff, DEN 1:01.38
16. Ana Maria Lamberto Garcia, ESP 1:01.41

There was a three-way tie in heat 4 among Klara Simanova of CZE, Easop Lee of KOR, and Tara Vovk; all three stopped the clock at exactly 1:01.70. Simanova and Lee improved their seed times by 1.2 seconds, while Vovk was 2 seconds faster than her PB. The trio held the lead through the next heat, then Suzuka Hasegawa of JPN went 59.61 in heat 6 to take over. Mabel Zavaros of CAN was second in the heat with 59.68.

Rebecca Smith of CAN won the penultimate heat in 58.99, ahead of GBR’s Emily Large (59.25) and USA’s Regan Smith (59.60). Rikako Ikee went 58.93 to take the final heat and the overall lead. SWE’s Sara Junevik (59.90) and RUS’s Polina Egorova (1:00.26) followed.

Men’s 400m Individual Medley – heats

• WJR: 4:14.00, Sean Grieshop (USA), 2016
• CR: 4:14.97, Gunnar Bentz (USA), 2013
• Start list M400IM

1. Kieran Smith, USA 4:20.46
2. Marton Barta, HUN 4:20.57
3. Nathan Hughes, GBR 4:20.59
4. Hugo Gonzalez, ESP 4:21.04
5. Balazs Hollo, HUN 4:21.35
6. Brodie Williams, GBR 4:21.59
7. Marcel Wagrowski, POL 4:22.68
8. Santiago Bergliaffa, ARG 4:23.02

ARG’s Santiago Bergliaffa dropped 1.3 seconds to win the third heat in 4:23.02 ahead of RSA’s Luan Grobbelaar (4:24.17), setting the bar before the two circle-seeded heats. USA’s Kieran Smith won the first of those, going 4:20.46. He barely touched out Nathan Hughes of GBR, who came in second with 4:20.59. Third in the heat was HUN’s Balazs Hollo (4:21.35).

The final heat featured a tight battle for much of the way among HUN’s Marton Barta, ESP’s Hugo Gonzalez, and GBR’s Brodie Williams. Gonzalez took it out quickly with the fly, but Williams passed both Barta and Gonzalez over the backstroke leg. Barta pulled in front with the breast, and held onto his lead coming home. Barta finished with 4:20.57 to Gonzalez’ 4:21.04 and Williams’ 4:21.59.

Women’s 50m Freestyle – heats

• WJR: 24.48, Rikako Ikee (JPN), 2017
• CR: 25.02, Rozaliy Nasretdinova (RUS), 2013
• Start list W50free

1. Grace Ariola, USA 25.15
2. Rikako Ikee, JPN 25.37
3. Angelina Köhler, GER 25.39
4. Kayla Sanchez, CAN 25.44
5. Julie Kepp Jensen, DEN 25.47
6. Barbora Seemanova, CZE 25.56
7. Frey Anderson, GBR 25.59
8. Sayuki Ouchi, JPN 25.63
9. Neza Klancar, SLO 25.79
10. Kate Douglass, USA 25.81
11. Julieta Lema, ARG 25.85
12. Polina Osipenko, RUS 25.93
13. Natasha Ramsden, AUS 26.06
14. Diana Petkova, BUL 26.08
15. Eliza King, AUS 26.09
16. Isabel Marie Gose GER 26.15

Varsenik Manucharyan of ARM swam all by herself in the first heat of women’s 50 free and cracked a 27.95 that held up as the leading time through the first four heats. In heat 5, her teammate Ani Poghosyan went 27.56 to win ahead of Zune Weber of NAM (27.70) and Beatriz Padron of CRC (27.88).

Julieta Lema of ARG smashed her PB by 8/10 winning heat 6 in 25.85. Nikoletta Pavlopoulou of GRE was second with 26.25. Olivia Nel of RSA took the final heat before the circle seeds, going 26.26. Anicka Delgado of ECU was second, just out-touching Inge Weidemann of RSA, 26.42 to 26.47.

Polina Seemanova of CZE opened the championship-seeded heats with 25.56, coming to the wall ahead of Neza Klancar of SLO (25.79) and Diana Petkova of BUL (26.08). Grace Ariola of USA followed with a 25.15 win in the penultimate heat. Behind her were Angelina Köhler of GER (25.39), Julie Kepp Jensen of DEN (25.47), and Kate Douglass of USA (25.81).

World Junior Record-holder Rikako Ikee of JPN won the final heat in 25.37. She was followed by CAN’s Kayla Sanchez in 25.44 and GBR’s Freya Anderson in 25.59.

Men’s 50m Breaststroke – heats

• WJR: 26.97, Nicolo Martinenghi (ITA), 2017
• CR: 27.74, Peter John Stevens (SLO), 2013
• Start list M50breast

1. Nicolo Martinenghi, ITA 27.21
2. Alessandro Pinzuti, ITA 27.49
3. Michael Andrew, USA 27.51
4. Vladislav Gerasimenko, RUS 27.93
5. Reece Whitley, USA 28.28
6. Philipp Brandt, GER 28.29
7. Michael Houlie, RSA 28.32
8. Gabe Mastromatteo, CAN 28.35
9. Wassili Kuhn, GER 28.39
10. Rafal Kusto, POL 28.51
11. Mykyta Pomazan, UKR 28.56
12. Yu Hanaguruma, JPN 28.58
13. Evgenii Somov, RUS / Jozef Beno, SVK 28.73
14. –
15. Santiago Saint-Upery, URU 28.77
16. Adnan Beji, TUN 28.86

MOZ’s Eric Impissa dropped 2.9 seconds to win the first heat of men’s 50 breast with 32.53. His teammate, Ahllan Bique, took heat 2 in 32.13. The first to break the 30-second barrier was Ikuma Osaki in heat 4, who won with 29.55 in a tight finish with Moncef Aymen Balamane of ALG (29.67) and Tiit Matvejev of EST (29.89). Zac Stubblety-Cook of AUS improved his seed time my more than half a second with a heat 5 win of 28.87. Jaren Lefranc of CAN was second with 29.20.

Alessandro Pinzuti of ITA took 2/100 off his entry time to win the first circle-seeded heat in 27.49. Vladislav Gerasimenko of RUS was second with 27.93, while GER’s Philipp Brandt touched third in 28.29. USA’s Michael Andrew won the next heat by half a body length, clocking a 27.51 despite an awkward extra stroke at the wall. Gabe Mastromatteo of CAN finished second with 28.35 ahead of POL’s Rafal Kusto (25.81).

Nicolò Martinenghi crushed the Championship Record in the final heat with 27.21, only .23 off his World Junior Record. Reece Whitley of USA was next with 28.28, getting his hand to the wall just ahead of Michael Houlie of RSA in 28.32.

Women’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay – heats

• WJR: 3:39.87, Australia, 2015
• CR: 3:39.87, Australia, 2015
• Start list W4x100free

1. Canada 3:42.74
2. United States 3:43.24
3. Russian Federation 3:43.40
4. Australia 3:44.17
5. Japan 3:45.83
6. Germany 3:46.10
7. Brazil 3:49.29
8. South Africa 3:55.55

United States won the first of two heats in a protracted battle with Australia. Julia Cook (55.99), Kate Douglass (56.45), Alex Walsh (55.11), and Kelly Pash (55.66) combined for 3:43.24. Australia’s Eliza King, Natasha Ramsden, Jemima Horwood, and Kirrilly Siebenhausen went 3:44.17. Third in the heat was Germany with 3:46.10.

Canada went 3:42.74 to win the second heat ahead of Russia (3:43.40) and Japan (3:45.83). Faith Knelson led off with 57.00 and was followed by Taylor Ruck (54.98), Penny Oleksiak (55.71), and Kayla Sanchez (55.05). The Russian Federation quartet consisted of Katarina Milutinovich, Polina Nevmovenko, Polina Osipenko, and Irina Krivonogova.

Women’s 1500m Freestyle – slow heats

• WJR: 15:28.36, Katie Ledecky (USA), 2014
• CR: 16:05.61, Simona Quadarella (ITA), 2015
• Start list W1500free

1. Lani Pallister, AUS 16:32.59
2. Andrea Galisteo Zapatero, MEX 16:44.98
3. Katja Fain, SLO 16:48.40
4. Nikki Miller, GBR 16:53.09
5. Rebecca Meder, RSA 16:56.88
6. Delfina Dini, ARG 17:03.27
7. Kate Beavon, RSA 17:08.58
8. Helena Moreno, CRC 17:17.03

Helena Moreno of CRC won the opening heat of women’s miles with 17:17.03. She was followed by Peru’s Fanny Ccollcca in 17:45.66 and HON’s Michell Ramirez. Ramirez dropped 37.5 seconds to touch in 18.21.15.

Delfina Dini of ARG won heat 2 with 17.03.27, improving her time by nearly 11 seconds. MEX’s Raquel Rubalcava Reyes was second in 17:19.81, just ahead of her teammate Regina Caracas Ramirez (17:28.91).

Lani Pallister posted the fastest time of the morning, and thus the time to beat in tonight’s final which features the 8 fastest women, by seed time. Pallister absolutely destroyed her previous best time, going nearly 20 seconds faster with 16:32.59. Andrea Galisteo Zapatero of ESP was second in 16:44.98, while Katja Fain of SLO touched third in 16:48.40.