2018 Junior Pan Pacs: Day 1 Finals Recap

2018 Jr. Pan Pacific Swimming Championships

• August 23rd-26th, 2018
• Suva, Fiji
• Live Results/Psychs
• USA Swimming Meet Landing Page (with daily heat sheets)
• 5 Storylines to Watch at the 2018 Jr. Pan Pacs
• Full Meet Information and Schedule Document
• Live Stream (free, open)

Women’s 200m Freestyle

• Jr World: 1:56.12 08/20/2014 Shen Duo, CHN
• Pan Pac: 1:57.73 01/08/2009 Dagny Knutson, USA

1. Claire Tuggle USA 1:58.58
2. Lani Pallister AUS 1:59.00
3. Nagisa Ikemoto JPN 1:59.02

Nagisa Ikemoto of Japan shot off the blocks and turned first at the 50, followed closely by Australians Lani Pallister and Eliza King and Canadian Ainsley McMurray. Ikemoto still led at the 100 wall but then USA’s Isabel Ivey pulled into second place. Ivey had a strong third 50 and moved to the lead heading into the final 50.

All kinds of machinations took place over the final 50. Ivey fell off pace, while teammate Claire Tuggle blasted to the front. Pallister and Ikemoto moved past Ivey, and at the wall it was Tuggle in 1:58.58, Pallister in 1:59.00, and Ikemoto in 1:59.02. Ivey finished just off the podium in fourth with 1:59.46. Also under 2:00 was King with 1:59.75.

Tuggle was .05 off Sippy Woodhead’s 13-14 National Age Group Record with her swim. She improved her PB by 1/100 and remains #2 all-time in the age group. She doesn’t turn 15 until next July. She might get another chance in Fiji in the 4×200 free relay but if not, she has ample time to overturn the record in the early half of next year’s long course season.

Men’s 200m Freestyle

• Jr World: 1:46.40 08/24/2017 Ivan Girev, RUS
• Pan Pac: 1:47.68 08/24/2016 Jack Cartwright, Australia

1. Drew Kibler USA 1:47.65
2. Jake Magahey USA 1:48.67
3. Keisu Ishizaki JPN 1:49.16

Drew Kibler of USA controlled the race from start to finish. By the first 50 he was already up by half a body length, turning in 24.80. Bunched up closely behind him were Taikan Tanaka of Japan, Zac Reid of New Zealand, Keisu Ishizaki of Japan, and Jake Magahey of USA. Over the next 50, Magahey inched ahead of the pack to trail Kibler by a body length, 51.98 to 53.11. Kibler continued to outsplit the field over the final 100 while Magahey held on for second. Kibler won in a meet-record time of 1:47.65, about a body length in front of Magahey (1:48.67). The real race was for third. Ishizaki slipped by Tanaka and Reid to take the bronze with 1:49.16.

Carson Foster won the B final with 1:48.57, taking down Caeleb Dressel’s 15-16 National Age Group Record that Magahey came within 1/100 of breaking in heats.

Women’s 100m Backstroke

• Jr World: 58.83 07/28/2018 Regan Smith, USA
• Pan Pac: 59.59 08/23/2018 Katharine Berkoff, USA

1. Phoebe Bacon USA 59.72
2. Katharine Berkoff USA 1:00.16
3. Madison Broad CAN 1:00.53

Phoebe Bacon of the USA won the women’s 100 back final, clocking the same 59.72 that she’d gone in heats. New meet record-holder Katharine Berkoff swam her third 100 back of the day, finishing second in 1:00.16. Berkoff had tied teammate Lucie Nordmann in prelims with 1:00.30 and had to swim off to determine which member of Team USA would swim in the A final. Berkoff won that contest with a meet record of 59.59, her best time by .18 and the 5th-fastest American performance in 17-18 history. Bacon, still just 15, ranks #2 in that age group with her 59.12 from 2018 Summer Nationals.

Canada’s Madison Broad finished third in 1:00.53, nearly 2 seconds ahead of teammate Maude Boily–Dufour (1:02.37).

Men’s 100m Backstroke

• Jr World: 52.97 04/23/2018 Kliment Kolesnikov, RUS
• Pan Pac: 54.07 08/23/2012 Jack Conger, USA

1. Destin Lasco USA 55.57
2. Adam Chaney USA 56.18
3. Daiki Yanagawa JPN 56.28

The B final of the men’s 100 back was a thrilling race from start to finish. USA’s Peter Larson jumped out to an early lead, followed by teammate Tim Connery, New Zealand’s Thomas Watkins, and Canada’s Loic St-Martin. Connery had the fastest second half and nearly ran down Larson. Larson ended up winning the heat in 55.55 with Connery in second at 55.93.

In the main event, USA’s Adam Chaney went out quickly, turning at the 50 wall in 26.87, a half body length ahead of a whole slew of swimmers led by Riku Matsuyama of Japan in lane 1 and Sebastian Somerset of Canada in lane 8. Destin Lasco of USA went into the wall in 7th place and came off in 2nd. He powered home over the last 50 meters and won the gold medal with 55.57. Chaney held on for silver with 56.18. Japan’s Daiki Yanagawa edged Canada’s Tyler Wall for third, 56.28 to 56.43. Matsuyama finished 5th with 56.57, just ehad of Lewis Blackburn of Australia (56.70). Stuart Swinburn of Australia (56.80) and Somerset (56.86) completed the final.

Women’s 200m Butterfly

• Jr World: 2:06.29 04/15/2017 Suzuka Hasegawa, JPN
• Pan Pac: 2:08.48 08/24/2016 Cassidy Bayer, USA

1. Olivia Carter USA 2:09.45
2. Mana Naito JPN 2:10.33
3. Karin Takemura JPN 2:10.66

Japan’s Mana Naito raced out to the early lead in the A final of the women’s 200 fly, finding clear water and turning a half-second ahead of USA’s Olivia Carter at the 50 wall, in 28.94. Unfazed, Carter outsplit Naito by 8/10 over the next 50 and was up by .28 at the 100 with 1:02.25. Naito remained in second place, while Karin Takemura of Japan battled USA’s Lillie Nordmann for third. Takemura’s back half proved too much for Nordmann and the Japanese teammates finished second (Naito, 2:10.33) and third (Takemura, 2:10.66) on the podium behind Carter (2:09.45).

Men’s 200m Butterfly

• Jr World: 1:53.79 06/30/2017 Kristof Milak, HUN
• Pan Pac: 1:55.92 08/27/2014 Andrew Seliskar, USA

1. Luca Urlando USA 1:56.25
2. Van Mathias USA 1:57.64
3. Tomoru Honda JPN 1:58.70

After posting the top times in prelims, USA’s Luca Urlando and Van Mathias found themselves in the middle lanes in tonight’s final. Urlando paced the race, getting out in 25.97 to Mathias’ 26.37. Shaun Champion of Australia wasn’t far behind Mathias; Japan’s Aito Yamaguchi was in fourth.

The field spread out over the middle 100 of the race. Urlando increased his lead to 2 body lengths at the 150 wall, while Mathias was well over a body length ahead of Japan’s Tomoru Honda and Yamaguchi. Of the top 4, Urlando’s final 50 was the slowest but he had enough of a lead to win handily in 1:56.25. Between his 1:56.37 in heats and his 1:56.25 in finals, Urlando clocked his third- and fourth-fastest 200 fly times. Mathias took home the silver medal with 1:57.64, off his morning time of 1:56.89. Honda claimed bronze in 1:58.70.

Team USA went 1-2-3 in the B final with Dare Rose taking the win in 1:59.15 over Cole Crane and Jake Foster.

Women’s 800m Freestyle

• Jr World: 8:11.00 06/22/2014 Katie Ledecky, USA
• Pan Pac: 8:28.01 08/23/2012 Leah Smith, USA

1. Lani Pallister AUS 8:29.65
2. Mariah Denigan USA 8:30.01
3. Emma Weyant USA 8:38.88

Australia’s Pallister snapped the USA’s gold-medal streak by winning the 800 free in a best-by-5.4-seconds 8:29.65. Pallister was 2-for-2 on the day after having earned a PB in the 200 free (1:59.00) along with her silver medal at the start of the session. Pallister, seeded second and swimming in lane 5 in the timed final, jumped out to a fast start, already up by a body length at the 100. USA’s Emma Weyant led the trailing pack at the 200, 2 seconds behind Pallister’s 2:05.94. By the halfway point, Mariah Denigan had started to outsplit the leader and pulled even with teammate Weyant. Denigan put it into another gear over the next 200 and was within 1/100 of Pallister to begin the bell lap. Denigan moved to the lead at the 750 wall but Pallister wasn’t finished. She dug deep and came home in 30.13 to edge Denigan, 8:29.65 to 8:30.01. Weyant finished third in a distant 8:38.88.

Men 1500m Freestyle

• Jr World: 14:51.55 04/06/2014 Mack Horton, AUS
• Pan Pac: 15:05.29 08/24/2016 Robert Finke, USA

1. Cheng Long CHN 15:24.55
2. Arik Katz USA 15:30.00
3. Ross Dant USA 15:30.78

Cheng Long of China took it out hard but had no trouble hanging on to earn gold in the men’s 1500 free. A third of the way through the race he was leading by 2 body lengths ahead of Australians Thomas Neill and Max Osborn. Behind them were USA’s Mikey Calvillo and Arik Katz.

By the 1000, Cheng was maintaining a 5-meter lead over the field. Katz, Calvillo, Neill, and Osborn were even, all battling for second place. At the 1300, Cheng still had a strong lead but Katz and Osborn had moved ahead of teammates Calvillo and Neill in the race for silver. Cheng came home to win gold in a PB of 15:24.55, followed by Katz in 15:30.00.

Ross Dant of USA had dropped nearly 4 seconds to post the fastest time from the morning heats with 15:30.78; he wound up on the podium with the bronze medal.

Mixed 4x100m Medley Relay

• Jr World: W 3:45.85 8/26/2015 Russia (Prikhodko, Chupkov, Pakhomov, Openysheva)

1. USA (Bacon, Roy, Urlando, Walsh) 3:47.01
2. Canada (Wall, Mastromatteo, MacNeil, McMurray) 3:51.27
3. Japan (Matsuyama, Fukasawa, Iitsuka, Ikemoto) 3:53.72

USA picked up their 7th gold medal of the night in the mixed medley relay with strong legs from Bacon, Daniel Roy, Urlando, and Gretchen Walsh. Japan, Canada and Australia got out to early leads with their backstrokers Matsuyama (56.49), Tyler Wall (56.62) and Ty Hartwell (56.80).

Canada slipped past Japan to take over the lead after the breaststroke leg, as Mastromatteo (1:00.40) outsplit Yamato Fukasawa by over 1 second on the breast. Roy pulled Team USA past Australia and within 3 seconds of Japan, going 1:00.68 for the second-fastest breaststroke split.

Urlando picked off the leaders one by one and moved USA into the lead with his 52.11 butterfly split. All other teams but Fiji fielded women in the fly. Urlando handed over the baton to Walsh with a 2-second lead.

Walsh clocked an impressive 53.78 to extend the lead for USA. Canada, Japan and Australia remained in their 2nd, 3rd, and 4th spots.

Fastest splits:

• Back – Riku Matsuyama, JPN 56.49
• Breast – Gabe Mastromatteo, CAN 1:00.40
• Fly – Luca Urlando, USA 52.11
• Free – Michael Pickett, NZL 49.88