2021 European Junior Championships Day 3 Finals Live Recap

2021 EUROPEAN JUNIOR SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, July 6th – Sunday, July 11th
• Foro Italico, Rome, Italy
• Heats at 9:30am local (3:30am EST)/Finals at 6pm local (Noon EST)
• LCM (50m)
• Live Results
• Live Stream
• Day 1 Prelims Recap | Day 1 Finals Recap
• Day 2 Prelims Recap | Day 2 Finals Recap
• Day 3 Prelims Recap
• Day 3 Finals Heat Sheets

Thursday marks the halfway point of the 2021 European Junior Championships in Rome. This session will have the most finals we have seen so far: seven.

These finals include the men’s 100 free where all eyes will be on Romania’s David Popovici to see if he can outdo his relay leadoff split of 47.56 that broke the World Junior record on Tuesday.

The men’s 1500 free final is set up to be a close race, with places 1-3 separated by less than 1.2 seconds in prelims. .01 separated a podium-finish and 4th place in the women’s 800 free final yesterday.

There will be five semifinals including the women’s 200 breast where France’s Justine Delmas is the top seed after she came within 1 second of her lifetime best time from 2019 in prelims.

Turkey’s Merve Tuncel will race the women’s 200 free semifinal as the top seed. She crushed the European Junior record in the 800 free final yesterday by more than seven seconds.

Men’s 100 Breaststroke – Final

• World Junior Record: 59.01 – Nicolo Martinenghi, ITA (2017)
• European Junior Record: 59.01 – Nicolo Martinenghi, ITA (2017)
• European Junior Championship Record: 59.23 – Nicolo Martinenghi, ITA (2017)
• 2019 European Junior Champion: Aleksandr Zhigalov (RUS)

Top 8:

1. Volodymyr Lisovets (UKR) – 1:00.28
2. Aleksas Savickas (LTU) – 1:01.29
3. Simone Cerasuolo (ITA) – 1:01.56
4. Luka Mladenovic (AU) – 1:01.63
5. Bartosz Skora (POL) – 1:01.91
6. Maksym Ovchinnikov (UKR) – 1:02.19
7. Ivo Kroes (NED) – 1:02.37
8. Manuel Kohlschmid (GER) – 1:02.59

Italy’s Simone Cerasuolo was first at the halfway mark, splitting a 28.26 to Volodymyr Lisovets‘ 28.31, but Lisovets brought home the race in 31.97. He was the only swimmer to crack 32.00 on last 50 meters.

This was a lifetime best swim for Lisovets whose previous best time was set at 1:00.42 at the Ukranian Championships in March.

Lithuania’s Aleksas Savickas won silver after running sown Cerasuoo on the last length with a final 50 split of 32.62 compared to Cerasuolo’s 33.30.

Women’s 100 Backstroke – Final

• World Junior Record: 57.57 – Regan Smith, USA (2019)
• European Junior Record: 59.08 – Anastasiya Shkurdai, BLR (2020)
• European Junior Championship Record: 59.62 – Polina Egorova, RUS (2017)
• 2019 European Junior Champion: Daria Vaskina (RUS)

Top 8:

1. Erika Gaetani (ITA) – 1:00.65
2. Mary-Ambre Moluh (FRA) – 1:00.93
3. Katie Shanahan (GBR) – 1:00.93
4. Carmen Weiler Sastre (ESP) – 1:01.50
5. Roos Vanotterdijk (BEL) – 1:01.59
6. Panna Egrai (HUN) – 1:01.77
7. Aleksandra Kurilkina (RUS) – 1:01.98
8. Lise Seidel (GER) – 1:02.79

French 15-year-old Mary-Ambre Moluh held nothing back in this race. She flipped .40 ahead of the field at the 50-meter mark and she was .6 ahead of gold medalist Erika Gaetani from Italy.

While she did not  maintain that speed on the last half, her initial lead of about one second over Great Britain’s Katie Shanahan was enough to secure her a silver medal.

Shanahan broke down that lead to tie with Moluh for silver.

Going into this meet, Gaetani’s lifetime best 100 back time was 1:01.03 from April.

Men’s 100 Butterfly – Semifinal

• World Junior Record: 50.62 – Kristof Milak, HUN (2017)
• European Junior Record: 50.62 – Kristof Milak, HUN (2017)
• European Junior Championship Record: 51.35 – Egor Kuimov, RUS (2017)
• 2019 European Junior Champion: Andrei Minakov (RUS)

Top 8:

1. Josif Miladinov (BUL) – 51.86
2. Edward Mildred (GBR) – 52.26
3. Diogo Matos Ribeiro (POR) – 52.84
4. Andriy Kovalenko (UKR) – 52.99
5. Pawel Uryniuk (POL) – 53.66
6. Martin Espernberger (AUT) – 53.80
7. Vadim Klimenishchev (RUS)  53.88
8. Kirill Lammert (GER) – 53.94

Bulgaria’s Josif Miladinov took back his top seed status after Great Britain’s Edward Mildred beat him in prelims. Miladinov took about 1.4 seconds off his prelims time to come within one second of his lifetime best time from the recent European Championships.

It’s shaping up to be an exciting finals race tomorrow as Mildred finished the race faster than Miladinov, splitting a 27.48 to Miladinov’s 27.55.

This was a lifetime best swim for Miladinov whose previous best stood at 52.61 from the European Championships.

Diogo Matos Ribeiro came within .42 of the Portuguese National record, set by Diogo Carvalho in 2009, to claim a spot in the top-3 heading into the final.

Women’s 200 Breaststroke – Semifinal

• World Junior Record: 2:19.64 – Viktoria Gunes, TUR (2015)
• European Junior Record: 2:19.64 – Viktoria Gunes, TUR (2015)
• European Junior Championship Record: 2:21.07 – Evgeniia Chikunova, RUS (2019)
• 2019 European Junior Champion: Evgeniia Chikunova (RUS)

Top 8:

1. Justine Delmas (FRA) – 2:25.12
2. Elena Bogomolova (RUS) – 2:27.57*
3. Eneli Jefimova (EST) – 2:27.57*
4. Kellie Messel (GER) – 2:29.05
5. Molly Mayne (IRL) – 2:29.55
6. Nele Schulze (GER) – 2:30.15
7. Ilaria Togni (ITA)  2:30.23
8. Maria Piscopiello (ITA) – 2:31.26
9. 2:25.19 by Sophie de Ronchi in 2009

15-year-old Justine Delmas broke the French National record by .07 to win the top spot in tomorrow’s final. The previous record was set by Sophie de Ronchi in 2009. De Ronchi still holds the 50 breast and 100 breast National records.

Delmas destroyed her lifetime best time of 2:27.05 from the 2019 European Youth Olympic Festival. She split the race 1:10.48/1:16.57.

Delmas finished 5th in this event in 2019.

Estonian National record holder Eneli Jefimova came within a second of her record from May to tie for 2nd place with Russia’s Elena Bogomolova.

This was a phenomenal time for Bogolomova whose best time going into this meet was 2:31.06 from October 2020. 14-year-old Jefimova was less than a second off her lifetime best time from April.

Men’s 50 Backstroke – Semifinal

• World Junior Record: 24.00 – Kliment Kolesnikov, RUS (2018)
• European Junior Record: 24.00 – Kliment Kolesnikov, RUS (2018)
• European Junior Championship Record: 24.52 – Kliment Kolesnikov, RUS (2018)
• 2019 European Junior Champion: Thomas Ceccon (ITA)

Top 8:

1. Ksawery Masiuk (POL) – 25.21
2. Aleksei Tkachev (RUS) – 25.25
3. Anastasios Kougkoulos (GRE) – 25.72
4. Cornelius Jahn (GER) – 25.81
5. Oliver Nell (HUN) – 25.88
6. Miroslav Knedla (CZE) –25.89
7. Lovro Serdarevic (CRO) – 25.91
8. Federico Tammaro (ITA) – 26.04

Ksawery Masiuk came within half a second of the Polish National record to out-touch Russia’s Aleksei Tkachev and earn the top spot going into tomorrow’s final.

He was just off his lifetime best time of 25.05 from the recent European Championships, whereas Tkachev shaved about half a second of his previous best time from April.

Greece’s Anastasios Kougkoulos fended off a herd of high 25’s to earn a top spot in the final. He crushed his lifetime best time going into this meet, 26.30 from April.

There was a tie for 9th place between Switzerland’s Benjamin Pfeiffer and France’s Maximillien Hugot who finished at 26.06 in the semifinal. They did a swim-off at the end of the meet where Pfeiffer posted a 25.74 to out touch Hugot by .05.

Women’s 200 Freestyle – Semifinal

• World Junior Record: 1:55.43 – Junxuan Yang, CHN (2019)
• European Junior Record: 1:56.78 – Target Time
• European Junior Championship Record: 1:57.51 – Isabel Gose, GER (2019)
• 2019 European Junior Champion: Isabel Gose (GER)

Top 8:

1. Laura Veres (HUN) – 1:59.03
2. Nikoletta Padar (HUN) – 1:59.52
3. Tamryn Van Selm (GBR) – 1:59.58
4. Beril Boecekler (TUR) – 2:00.14
5. Merve Tuncel (TUR) – 2:00.25
6. Daria Trofimova (RUS) – 2:00.29*
7. Viktoriia Starostina (RUS) – 2:00.29*
8. Chiara Klein (GER) – 2:00.63

Hungarian 15-year-olds Laura Veres and Nikoletta Padar finished 1-2 in the semifinal. Veres snuck under her lifetime bet time from March by .11 while Padar was about one-third of a second off her best time.

Great Britain’s Tamryn Van Helm was right on her lifetime best time to snag 3rd.

Turkey and Russia also have two swimmers each in the final tomorrow.

Despite being in two different heats, Daria Trofimova and her teammate Viktoriia Starostina tied for 6th place. Trofimova split the race 58.46 / 1:01.54 while Starostina finished the race slightly stronger: 58.95 / 1:01.05.

Turkey’s Merve Tuncel was about half a second off her best time in this event, following her World Junior record swim in the 800 free yesterday.

Men’s 200 Individual Medley – Final

• World Junior Record: 1:56.99 – Hubert Kos, HUN (2021)
• European Junior Record: 1:56.99 – Hubert Kos, HUN (2021)
• European Junior Championship Record: 1:59.17 – Thomas Dean, GBR (2018)
• 2019 European Junior Champion: Apostolos Papastamos (GRE)

Top 8:

1. Berke Saka (TUR) – 2:00.04
2. Vadym Naumenko (UKR) – 2:00.65
3. Cedric Buessing (GER) – 2:01.84
4. Eytan Ben Shitrit (ISR) – 2:02.71
5. Jakub Bursa (CZE) – 2:02.79
6. Artem Vorobev (RUS) – 2:03.21
7. Yigit Sanberk Oktar (TUR) – 2:03.51
8. Angus Allison (GBR) – 2:04.21

Berke Saka took down Yigit Sanberk Oktar‘s Turkish National record by more than half a second to win gold. Oktar set that record about two weeks ago at the Turkish Summer Championships in June.

This is Saka’s second National record of the meet after he broke the 100 backstroke record yesterday to place 4th.

Oktar finished in 7th place in the final, nearly 3 seconds off his record.

Vadym Naumenko came within .12 of the Ukrainian National record, set by Denys Dubrov in 2009, to win silver while Germany’s Cedric Buessing took nearly 4 seconds off his lifetime best time going into this meet from April.

Men’s 50 Breaststroke – Semifinal

• World Junior Record: 26.97 – Nicolo Martinenghi, ITA (2017)
• European Junior Record: 26.97 – Nicolo Martinenghi, ITA (2017)
• European Junior Championship Record: 27.23 – Nicolo Martinenghi, ITA (2017)
• 2019 European Junior Champion: Vladislav Gerasimenko (RUS)

Top 8:

1. Simone Cerasuolo (ITA) – 27.61
2. Rostyslav Kryzhanivs’kyy (UKR) – 27.74
3. Volodymyr Lisovets (UKR) – 27.81
4. Georgii Glazunov (RUS) – 27.95
5. Tomasz Kraczkowski (POL) – 28.10
6. Federico Rizzardi (ITA) – 28.19
7. Bartosz Skora (POL) – 28.20
8. Manuel Kohlschmid (GER) – 28.26

After winning bronze in the 100 breast final, Italy’s Simone  Cerasuolo posted the fastest time in the 50 breast semi’s, just .11 off his lifetime best from April.

He out touched Ukraine’s Rostyslav Kryzhanivs’kyy who snuck under his lifetime best time from March by .01. His teammate, Volodymyr Lisovets, who won gold in the 100 breast, claimed the third spot in tomorrow’s final.

Women’s 200 Butterfly – Final

• World Junior Record: 2:06.29 – Suzuka Hasegawa, JPN (2017)
• European Junior Record: 2:06.71 – Target Time
• European Junior Championship Record: 2:08.55 – Emese Kovacs, HUN (2007)
• 2019 European Junior Champion: Blanka Berecz (HUN)

Top 8:

1. Anastasiia Markova (RUS) – 2:08.41
2. Lana Pudar (BIH) – 2:09.59
3. Lucie Delmas (FRA) – 2:10.42
4. Reka Nyiradi (HUN) – 2:11.05
5. Lia Csulak (HUN) – 2:11.83
6. Sofia Sartori (ITA) – 2:12.13
7. Viktoriya Kostromina (UKR) – 2:12.89
8. Daria Lunina (RUA0 – 2:14.85

Russia’s Anastasiia Markova posted a new Championship record time of2:08.41 to take down a 14-year-old record set by Hungary’s Emese Kovacs at 2:08.55.

She split the race 1:01.85 / 1:06.56 to come within 1.08 seconds of the Russian National record. Going into this meet, her lifetime best time was 2:10.87 from October 2020.

Lana Pudar broke her own Bosnian and Herzegovinian National record by nearly a second to win silver. She set the record yesterday at 2:10.74.

France’s Lucie Delmas also blasted a lifetime best time, taking down her previous best time from June by more than one second.

Men’s 100 Freestyle – Final

• World Junior Record: 47.56 r* – David Popovici, ROU (2021)
• European Junior Record: 47.56 r* – David Popovici, ROU (2021)
• European Junior Championship Record: 48.48 – Daniil Izotov, RUS,  (2009)
• 2019 European Junior Champion: Matthew Richards (GBR)

Top 8:

1. David Popovici (ROU) – 47.30 *WJR
2. Edward Mildred (GBR) – 48.77
3. Mateusz Chowaniec (POL) – 49.37
4. Vladislav Reznichenko (RUS) – 49.49
5. Diogo Matos Ribeiro (POR) – 49.52
6. Ralph Daleiden (LUX) – 50.08
7. Davide Dalla Costa (ITA) – 50.26
8. Tomas Navikonis (LTU) – 50.27

Romania’s David Popovici just blasted the fastest 100 free time in the world this year, simultaneously breaking his own World Junior record from two days ago by .27.

He split the race 22.97 / 24.33.

After placing 2nd in the 100 fly semifinal, Edward Mildred blasted a 48.77 to win silver. This crushed his lifetime best time going into this meet from April by more than one second.

Poland’s Mateusz Chowaniec and Portugal’s Diogo Matos Ribeiro had the second fastest 50-meter splits of 23.60. While 4th place finisher Vladislav Reznichenko closed the race .40 faster than Chowaniec, it was not enough to overcome Chowaniec’s initial lead.

Men’s 1500 Freestyle – Final

• World Junior Record: 14:46.09– Franko Grcic, CRO (2019)
• European Junior Record: 14:46.09– Franko Grcic, CRO (2019)
• European Junior Championship Record: 15:01.59 – Kirill Martynychev, RUS (2019)
• 2019 European Junior Champion: Kirill Martynychev (RUS)

Top 8:

1. Mert Kilavuz (TUR) – 15:02.22
2. David Betlehem (HUN) – 15:02.22
3. Yigit Aslan (TUR) – 15:05.08
4. Aleksandr Stepanov (RUS) – 15:05.90
5. Krzysztof Chmielewski (POL) – 15:16.94
6. Jovan Lekic (BIH) – 15:17.83
7. Vlad Stefan Stancu (ROU) – 15:29.00
8. Jon Joentvedt (NOR) – 15:34.09

Mert Kilavuz destroyed his own Turkish National record from February by more than 4 seconds to win gold. His teammate Yigit Aslan also cracked Kilavuz’s previous record time.

Jovan Lekic of Bosnia and Herzegovina broke the second National record in this heat, taking down his own record from yesterday by 4 seconds.

Hungary’s David Betlehem was right with Kilavuz the entire race., trailing him by two seconds at most at certain checkpoints. He had an incredible last 50 split of 26.90, compared to Kilavuz’s 28.88, to nearly run him down. This was a lifetime best time for Betlehem by more than 13 seconds, crushing his previous best from the 2019 European Youth Olympic Festival

Mixed 4×100 Medley Relay – Final

• World Junior Record: 3:44.84 – USA (2019)
• European Junior Record: 3:47.99 – Russia (2018)
•  European Junior Championship Record: 3:47.99 – Russia (2019)
• 2019 European Junior Champion: Russia

Top 8:

1. Russia – 3:50.25
2. Great Britain – 3:51.48
3. Ukraine – 3:54.03
4. Poland – 3:55.03
5. Hungary– 3:55.77
6. Spain – 3:56.09
7. Germany – 3:56.22

Russia’s relay team of Aleksei Tkachev, Georgii Glazunov, Daria Klepikova, and Daria Tatarinova touched the wall 1st, more than one second ahead of the field. Tkachev led off the relay in 54.84 and Tatarinova anchored it in 54.66.

Glazunov posted a 1:01.86 breaststroke split and Klepikova cracked 59.00 on the fly with a time of 58.89.

Italy’s relay team was disqualified, but their time would have earned them the silver medal. This is their second relay disqualification of the meet. Their women’s 4×200 free relay was DQ’d on Tuesday after winning bronze.