2018 Youth Olympic Games: Day 2 Finals Live Recap

2018 Youth Olympic Games

• October 6th-18th, 2018
• Swimming Portion: October 7th-12th, 2018
• Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Schedule & Results
• Entries
• Youtube Live Stream

The second finals session from the 2018 Youth Olympic Games will feature a full slate of events, with a total of eight finals and two sets of semi-finals.

Among the highlights on the men’s side will be Russian Kliment Kolesnikov swimming the 100 back final, Michael Houlie of South Africa looking to improve upon his record setting semi-final swim in the 100 breast, Kristof Milak attacking the 200 free/100 fly double, and Norwegian Tomoe Hvas in the 200 IM after smashing their national record in the prelims. Hvas has also scratched out of the 100 back to put his sole focus on the IM.

On the women’s side, Australian Kaylee McKeown will face a tough lineup that includes Polina Egorova of Russia and Rhyan White of the U.S. in the 100 back final, and Agne Seleikaite will try and defend her top seed in the 50 breast and give Lithuania back-to-back titles after Ruta Meilutyte won gold four years ago in Nanjing.

Men’s 100 Back Final

1. Kliment Kolesnikov, RUS, 53.26
2. Daniel Martin, ROU, 53.59
3. Thomas Ceccon, ITA, 53.65

Romanian Daniel Martin was the aggressor early on in the men’s 100 back final, flipping with a lead at the 50 in 25.65, but the Russian Kliment Kolesnikov charged home in 27.35 to go right by him and claim gold in 53.26, with Martin holding off Italian Thomas Ceccon for silver in 53.59.

Ceccon recorded a new personal best in taking bronze in 53.65, showing incredible back-half speed with splits of 26.64/27.01, and is now just three-tenths off of the Italian National Record (53.34). China’s Wang Guanbin was a distant 4th in 55.33.

Women’s 200 Fly Final

1. Blanka Berecz, HUN, 2:10.37
2. Dune Coetzee, RSA, 2:11.71
3. Michaela Ryan, AUS, 2:13.12

Hungarian Blanka Berecz started off slowly in the women’s 200 fly final, turning 6th at the 50m wall, but slowly but surely made her way through the field and by the 150 mark she had opened up a half-second lead on South Africa’s Dune Coetzee. Berecz extended her advantage coming home, finishing about a half-second off her best for the gold in 2:10.37.

Coetzee grabbed the silver in 2:11.71, and Australia’s Michaela Ryan moved up from 5th at the 150 into the bronze medal position at the wall in 2:13.12. Colombian Maria Clara Roman Mantilla made an even more impressive push on the last lap, moving up from 7th to 4th with a final length of 34.20 to sneak by Finland’s Laura Lahtinen (2:13.51).

Men’s 200 Free Final

1. Kristof Milak, HUN, 1:47.73
2. Robin Hanson, SWE, 1:48.14
3. Denis Loktev, ISR, 1:48.53

Sweden’s Robin Hanson made his move in the men’s 200 free during the middle 100, splitting 27.78/27.41 to open up a half-second advantage on Kristof Milak heading into the final 50. Milak turned on the jets coming home, closing in 26.66 to snag the gold in 1:47.73 and give himself the 200/400 double. His best time currently stands at 1:47.19 from the European Juniors in July.

Hanson was still solid on the last 50, touching for silver in a personal best time of 1:48.14 (improving his 1:48.65 from those Euro Juniors), and Israel’s Denis Loktev (1:48.53) narrowly held off Jakub Kraska (1:48.65) of Poland and Keisuke Yoshida (1:48.75) of Japan for 3rd.

Women’s 50 Breast Final

1. Agnė Šeleikaitė, LTU, 31.37
2. Chelsea Hodges, AUS, 31.42
3. Tina Celik, SLO, 31.75

Lithuanian Agnė Šeleikaitė defended her top seed from the semi-finals to win gold in the women’s 50 breast, touching in a time of 31.37 to give Lithuania back-to-back golds in the event. Four years ago, Ruta Meilutyte won gold in Nanjing. Selekaite has been as fast as 31.24, done in April at her National Championships.

Australian Chelsea Hodges was just .05 back for silver in 31.42, and Tina Celik of Slovenia snagged the bronze in 31.75 over Ireland’s Mona McSharry (31.96) and Niamh Coyne (32.02).

Men’s 100 Fly Semi-Finals

1. Andrei Minakov, RUS, 51.94
2. Federico Burdisso, ITA, 52.43
3. Kristof Milak, HUN, 52.56
4. Shinnosuke Ishikawa, JPN, 52.67
5. Daniel Martin, ROU, 52.70
6. Jakub Majerski, POL, 52.79
7. Ihor Troianovskyi, UKR, 52.88
8. Denys Kesil, UKR / Noe Ponti, SUI, 53.47

16-year-old Russian Andrei Minakov was the lone man sub-52 in the semi-finals of the men’s 100 fly, recording a time of 51.94 to come within a tenth of his lifetime best (51.84). Italy’s Federico Burdisso took 2nd to Minakov in the 2nd semi in 52.43, as five of the top-7 swimmers came out of that heat.

Kristof Milak followed up his 200 free victory with a win in semi 1 for the 3rd seed in 52.56, and Daniel Martin also advanced in 5th after winning silver in the 100 back. Ukrainian Denys Kesil and Switzerland’s Noe Ponti tied for 8th in 53.47, which will potentially lead to a swim-off. Ponti, however, is scheduled to swim the 200 IM final towards the end of the session, so that puts Kesil in an advantageous position. Ponti could realistically scratch the swim-off, or, if it’s contested at the end of the session, he’ll be fatigued from the IM.

Women’s 100 Free Semi-Finals

1. Barbora Seemanova, CZE, 54.61
2. Yang Junxuan, CHN, 54.79
3. Neza Klancar, SLO, 55.10
4. Nagisa Ikemoto, JPN, 55.25
5. Elizaveta Klevanovich, RUS, 55.34
6. Abbey Webb, AUS, 55.69
7. Kyla Leibel, CAN, 55.93
8. Anastasia Gorbenko, ISR, 56.21

Barbora Seemanova of the Czech Republic powered her way to the top seed heading into the women’s 100 free final, putting up a 54.61 from the second semi to top China’s Yang Junxuan (54.79) and Slovenia’s Neza Klancar (55.10). Seemanova lowers her best from the 2017 European Juniors by .01.

Nagisa Ikemoto of Japan touched 1st in the first semi-final for the 4th seed overall in 55.25, followed by Aussie Abbey Webb (55.69) and Israel’s Anastasia Gorbenko (56.21) who advance in 6th and 8th.

Men’s 100 Breast Final

1. Sun Jiajun, CHN, 1:00.59
2. Denis Petrashov, KGZ, 1:01.34
3. Taku Taniguchi, JPN, 1:01.40

South African Michael Houlie did the exact same thing he did in the semi-finals, blasting out to the lead in the men’s 100 breast final with an opening 50 of 27.43 (.01 faster than last night). He took the top seed out of the semis in 1:00.27, but it was a much different story here in the final as he tied up toward the end and missed the podium by three-tenths.

Sun Jiajun of China was close to Houlie opening up, splitting 27.72, but held his race together much better coming home to win the gold in 1:00.59. Denis Petrashov of Kyrgyzstan closed in 32.30 to take silver in 1:01.34, just ahead of Japan’s Taku Taniguchi (1:01.40) and Yu Hanaguruma (1:01.62). The swim for Petrashov is a new National Record, eclipsing his 1:01.42 from this past January.

Houlie’s final 50 of 34.27 dropped him down to 5th in 1:01.70.

Women’s 100 Back Final

1. Daria Vaskina, RUS, 1:00.45
2. Kaylee McKeown, AUS, 1:00.58
3. Rhyan White, USA, 1:00.60

Daria Vaskina of Russia came back from 4th at the 50 to take gold in the women’s 100 back, closing in 30.85 to overtake early leader Kaylee McKeown and win gold in 1:00.45. McKeown held on for silver in 1:00.58, and American Rhyan White was just .02 back for bronze in 1:00.60.

Russian Polina Egorova, the top seed out of the semi-finals with a 1:00.92, ended up 4th in 1:01.25.

Men’s 200 IM Final

1. Tomoe Hvas, NOR, 1:59.58
2. Thomas Ceccon, ITA, 2:01.29
3. Finlay Knox, CAN, 2:01.91

Tomoe Hvas followed up his Norwegian National Record in the prelims with another in tonight’s final, bringing his 1:59.77 down two more tenths in 1:59.58. Prior to that swim the record had stood for ten years at 2:01.52, and Hvas came into the meet with a best of 2:01.78.

He asserted his lead from the get-go, splitting near identical to his morning swim on fly in 25.03, and his backstroke leg of 29.95 really made the difference compared to the prelims.

Thomas Ceccon, who set a new PB at the beginning of the session when he won bronze in the 100 back, picked up a silver out of lane 1 in 2:01.29, using a strong front half of 56.19. Canadian Finlay Knox, a late replacement to their team, used strong breaststroke (34.73) and freestyle (28.95) legs to take bronze in 2:01.91, with Israel’s Gal Cohen Groumi (2:02.41) in 4th.

Women’s 400 Medley Relay Timed Final

1. China, 4:05.18
2. Australia, 4:05.46
3. Russia, 4:06.07

The Australians led at every exchange in the women’s 400 medley relay, but a 53.99 anchor from Yang Junxuan pulled the Chinese team past them for gold in 4:05.18, with the Aussies settling for silver in 4:05.46.

Kaylee McKeown (1:01.61), Chelsea Hodges (1:08.83) and Michaela Ryan (1:00.12) had given Abbey Webb a lead of six-tenths of a second heading into the free, and she did have a solid split of 54.90, but it wasn’t enough to hold off Yang.

Joining Yang on China’s relay was Peng Xuwei (1:01.64), Zheng Muyan (1:10.13) and Lin Xintong (59.42) on back, breast and fly respectively.

100 back gold medalist Daria Vaskina was well off her time from earlier in the session on the lead-off, putting the Russians in 6th out of seven teams in 1:02.74, but Anastasia Makarova (1:08.63), Polina Egorova (59.50) and Elizaveta Klevanovich (55.20) erased the early deficit and gave them a definitive bronze in 4:06.07.

The Brazilians took 4th in 4:10.93, and the U.S. was 5th (4:16.79). The Canadian team, sitting 5th heading into the last exchange, was disqualified for an early takeoff from their freestyle swimmer.