2022 Junior Pan Pacs – Day 2 Finals Live Recap

2022 Junior Pan Pacific Championships

• August 24-27, 2022
• Mark Takai Veterans Memorial Aquatics Center
• Honolulu, Hawaii (Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time)
• Prelims 9:00 AM / Finals 5:00 PM (GMT-10)
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results
• Live Streaming
• Five main story lines – boys
• Five main story lines – girls

The 2022 Junior Pan Pacific Championships, which brings together swimmers from Australia, Canada, Japan, the United States, New Zealand, Samoa, Fiji, and Singapore, is being hosted by the U.S. in Honolulu, Hawaii. It is open to athletes aged 13-18 as of December 31st of the competition year. Each nation is limited to two athletes in the scored A final and two in the B final.

USA’s Erin Gemmell broke the lone meet record of the morning session on Thursday, going 54.42 in the 100 free. She is top seed headed into finals but Australia’s Milla Jansen and Olivia Wunsch also notched sub-55s this morning and will be gunning for the title. Thomas Heilman of USA led the morning qualifiers in the boys’ 100 free and will face stiff competition from Australia’s Flynn Southam in lane 5. Southam won the 200 free last night and was the top seed in the 100 free.

USA’s Piper Enge was the lone qualifier in the girls’ 100 breast with a sub-1:09 and is poised to give the Americans another gold medal. Yamoto Okadome of Japan put up the top time of the morning on the boys’ side but Singapore’s Nicholas Mahabir, who qualified second, had the fastest time coming into the meet.

Japan’s Mio Narita and Ei Kamikawabata dominated heats of the girls’ and boys’ 400 IM this morning with times that were more than 5 seconds faster than the rest of the field. They are poised to add another pair of gold medals to Japan’s total.

Girls 100 Meter Freestyle – Final

• Jr World: 52.70 – Penny Oleksiak, CAN (2016)
• Jr Pan Pac: 54.42 – Erin Gemmell, USA (2022)

Podium:

1. Erin Gemmell, USA – 54.13
2. Milla Jansen, Australia – 54.36
3. Olivia Wunsch, Australia – 54.50

For the second time in as many days, Erin Gemmell of USA lowered a Junior Pan Pacs meet record that she had set in prelims. This time, she took another .29 off the mark while winning the 100 free in 54.13. Out in 26.19, she came back in 27.94 to finish with a new personal best that is .49 faster than her entry time. Gemmell’s second 50 made the difference, as she had split 26.25/28.17 this morning.

Swimming on either side of Gemmell were Australia’s Milla Jansen and Olivia Wunsch. Both improved on their morning swims, touching second and third, respectively, with 54.36 and 54.40. The Aussie pair trailed Gemmell by about half a second at the 50 wall but outsplit the champion over the second half of the race. Jansen came home in 27.66, while Wunsch went 27.82. While they put a good deal of pressure on Gemmell on the back half, they were not able to catch the new meet record-holder.

Boys 100 Meter Freestyle – Final

• Jr World: 46.86 – David Popovici, ROM (2022)
• Jr Pan Pac: 48.91 – Jack Cartwright, AUS (2016)

Podium:

1. Flynn Southam, Australia – 48.23
2. Thomas Heilman, USA – 49.34
3. Jamie Mooney, Australia – 50.19

Flynn Southam of Australia took down his second meet record with an explosive 48.23 in the 100 free final. He beat the 2016 mark set by fellow Australian Jack Cartwright by .68 and lowered his personal best by .31. Thomas Heilman of USA, who had clocked the fastest time in heats this morning with a 15-16 NAG record of 49.06, seemed to get off to the quickest start. But about halfway through the first 50 meters, Southam moved to the lead. At the turn, he led by just over a tenth of a second with 23.79.

Southam was untouchable over the second half of the race. He came home in 24.44 to win by a body length. Heilman held on for second place, while Jamie Mooney of Australia took third with 50.19.

Girls 100 Meter Breaststroke – Final

• Jr World: 1:04.35 – Ruta Meilutyte, LTU (2013)
• Jr Pan Pac: 1:07.55 – Emily Weiss, USA (2018)

Podium:

1. Piper Enge, USA – 1:08.58
2. Kotomi Kato, Japan – 1:09.10
3. Isabella Johnson, Australia – 1:09.36

USA’s Piper Enge, the top seed coming into the meet, won the girls’ 100 breast by half a body length with 1:08.58. Enge went out in 32.55, just .2 slower than her pace this morning, but she came back with the same second-50 time of 36.0 to earn the win.

Isabella Johnson of Australia made an early move and turned with Enge at the halfway point. She was .25 ahead of Japan’s Kotomi Kato at that point, but she couldn’t match her on the back half. Kato came home in 36.29 to slip past Johnson and snatch the silver medal with 1:09.10. Johnson got her hand to the wall third with 1:09.36.

Boys 100 Meter Breaststroke – Final

• Jr World: 59.01 – Nicolo Martinenghi, ITA (2017)
• Jr Pan Pac: 59.85 – Akihiro Yamaguchi, JPN (2012)

Podium:

1. Zhier Fan, USA – 1:00.74
2. Yamoto Okadome, Japan – 1:01.35
3. Nicholas Mahabir, Singapore – 1:01.78

Australia’s Haig Buckingham was first out of the gates, getting out in front of the field at the 50 wall and turning at 28.59. Yamato Okadome, swimming in lane 4, was .14 back, while USA’s Zhier Fan trailed by .18.

The race began to heat up on the second 50. Fan, Okadome, and Singapore’s Nicholas Mahabir began to close in on Buckingham. Zhier beat the field by .7 on the back half to come away with the win in 1:00.74. His splits of 28.77/31.97 made him the only sub-1:01 in the final.

Okadome came home in 32.6 and passed Buckingham. He earned the silver with 1:01.35. Mahabir got his hand to the wall just .07 ahead of Buckingham to give Singapore its first medal of the championship.

Girls 400 Meter Individual Medley – Final

• Jr World: 4:29.01 – Summer McIntosh, CAN (2022)
• Jr Pan Pac: 4:39.76 – Becca Mann, USA (2012)

Podium:

1. Mio Narita, Japan – 4:36.79
2. Kayla Han, USA – 4:43.60
3. Ayami Suzuki, Japan – 4:43.70

Japan’s Mio Narita destroyed the 400 IM meet record, set by Becca Mann in 2012, with a dominant 4:36.79. Narita had a slight lead over Canada’s Ella Jansen and her own teammate Ayami Suzuki after the butterfly leg, turning in 1:03.03. Jansen took over the lead on the backstroke, splitting 1:10.74 to Narita’s 1:11.54.

Narita dominated the breaststoke with a split of 1:18.18 and moved back into the lead, while behind her the deck was being shuffled. USA’s Kayla Han passed Suzuki and was beginning to challenge Jansen for second place. Han went 1:21.17 on the breast, outsplitting Jansen (1:23.97) and Suzuki (1:24.33).

Narita had about a 10-meter lead on the field after the first 50 of freestyle. Behind her it was a furious battle for second place. Narita came to the wall all alone with 4:36.79, while Han touched out Suzuki by .10 to take home the silver medal with 4:43.60. The 13-year-old Han moves up to #3 on the all-time list for 13-14 girls in the U.S., with another year in the age group to improve her position.

Boys 400 Meter Individual Medley – Final

• Jr World: 4:10.02 – Ilia Borodin, RUS (2021)
• Jr Pan Pac: 4:12.59 – Chase Kalisz (2012)

Podium:

1. Ei Kamikawabata, Japan – 4:15.23
2. Maximus Williamson, USA – 4:17.58
3. Riki Abe, Japan – 4:17.96

Ei Kamikawabata of Japan swam a dominant 4:15.23 to win the 400 IM by two body lengths ahead of USA’s Maximus Williamson and Riki Abe of Japan.

Katkiawabata established the early lead with a 57.88 in the butterfly. Australia’s William Petric and USA’s Cooper Lucas were about two-tenths back. Williamson surged to the lead over the next 50 meters and was up by a body length at the halfway point. He split his backstroke in 32.4/31.7 for a 1:04.1, by far the fastest in the field.

Kamikawabata took back the lead on the breaststroke leg, going 35.4/36.0 for 1:11.5 and putting several meters of clear water between him and the rest of the field. Petric moved into second place, while Abe passed Williamson in third place.

With Kamikawabata way out of reach, the excitement was in the battle for second place. Williamson passed Abe and was closing in on the second-place Petric at the 350 wall. In a furious sprint to the finish, Williamson and Abe both split 28.4s and left Petric in their wake. As they came to the final wall, Williamson held onto second place and finished with 4:17.58, a mere .38 in front of Abe.

Girls 4×200 Meter Freestyle Relay – Timed Finals

• Jr World: 7:51.47 – Canada (Sanchez, Oleksiak, Smith, Ruck) (2017)
• Jr Pan Pac: 7:57.93 – USA (Tuggle, Ivey, Walsh, Nordmann) (2018)

Podium:

1. United States (Kayla Wilson, Jillian Cox, Cavan Gormsen, Erin Gemmell) – 7:54.70
2. Australia (Jamie Perkins, Amelia Weber, Olivia Winsch, Milla Jansen) – 7:55.85
3. Japan (Hinata Umeki, Misa Okuzono, Karin Ninomiya, Ruka Takezawa) – 8:01.38

The United States came from behind to beat Australia and destroy the meet record in the 4×200 free with 7:54.70. Australia also came to the wall under the previous meet mark with 7:55.85. Australia led from the outset, getting a 1:57.64 leadoff from Jamie Perkins. She was followed by Amelia Weber (1:59.11), Olivia Wunsch (1:59.91), and Milla Jansen (1:59.19).

Japan (Hinata Umeki, Misa Okuzono, Karin Ninomiya, Ruka Takezawa) was in second place on the first exchange, thanks to a 1:59.92 leadoff. USA was in third place with 2:00.01 from Kayla Wilson.

The American quartet continued with Jillian Cox (1:59.32) and Cavan Gormsen (2:00.51), who then handed off to Erin Gemmell, the newly-annointed meet record-holder in the 200 free. Gemmell begin with a 3.18-second deficit behind Australia, but with every stroke she seemed to close the gap. Gemmell split 26.4-29.2-30.1-29.0 for an anchor of 1:54.86, giving the USA a victory by over a body length.

Boys 4×200 Meter Freestyle Relay – Timed Finals

• Jr World: 7:08.37 – USA (Magahey, Urlando, Mitchell, Foster) (2019)
• Jr Pan Pac: 7:16.42 – USA (Magahey, Kibler, Rose, Foster) (2018)

Podium:

1. Australia (Flynn Southam, Anders McAlpine, Marcus Da Silva, Joshua Staples) – 7:13.07
2. United States (Henry McFadden, Thomas Heilman, Rex Maurer, Maximus Williamson) – 7:15.18
3. Japan (Maki Kiriyama, Yuta Watanabe, Tatsumi Edward Scott, Tomoyuki Matsushita) – 7:22.26

Meet record-holder Flynn Southam put Australia into the lead from the very first leg, leading off in 1:47.30, just .19 off his winning time in the 200 free on Wednesday night. From there, the Aussie quartet were able to stay in front of the pack until the end, despite a couple of challenges along the way from the U.S.

Southam handed off to Anders McAlpine, who split 1:48.63 on the second leg, maintaining a 1.54-second lead over USA and a 3.3-second lead over Japan. Marcus Da Silva split 1:49.30 to hold USA’s Rex Maurer at bay, while Joshua Staples, who won the 1500 free on Wednesday, brought it home in 1:47.84.

The Americans led off with Henry McFadden (1:49.49). Thomas Heilman followed with 1:47.98, cutting into the Australian lead. Maurer nearly caught Da Silva with his third leg of 1:48.03. Maximus Williamson, who had scored a silver medal in the 400 IM but a half hour earlier, anchored in 1:49.68

Both Australia and the United States bested the previous meet record of 7:16.42 from 2018.