2024 European Junior Championships: Day 4 Finals Live Recap

2024 EUROPEAN JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, July 2nd – Sunday, July 7th
• Prelims at 9:30am local/Finals at 6pm local
• Lazdynai Pool, Vilnius, Lithuania
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
• Entries
• Day 1 Prelims Recap/Day 1 Finals Recap
• Day 2 Prelims Recap/Day 2 Finals Recap
• Day 3 Finals Recap
• Day 4 Prelims Recap
• Live Results
• Livestream ($)

The fourth night of the European Junior Championships has arrived with finals of the boys 100 butterfly, boys 50 free, both 200 breaststrokes, both 200 backstrokes, boys 400 IM, and mixed 4×100 medley relay slated for Friday evening.

The fourth finals session in Lithuania also features semifinals of the girls 100 freestyle and girls 200 fly. 

Romania’s Robert-Andrei Badea is aiming for an IM sweep in the 400 IM today after lowering his own national record in yesterday’s 200 IM (2:00.05). The 16-year-old should be challenged by Turkey’s Onur Ege Oksuz, who was just a couple tenths behind Badea (4:21.48) in prelims at 4:21.65.

Stay tuned for live updates below:

BOYS 100 BUTTERFLY – FINAL

• World Junior Record: 50.62, Kristof Milak (2017)
• European Junior Record: 50.62, Kristof Milak (2017)
• European Record: 49.68, Kristof Milak (2021)
• Championship Record: 51.35, Egor Kuimov (2017)
• 2023 European Junior Champion: Casper Puggaard (Denmark) – 52.67

PODIUM:

• Gold: Daniele Momoni (ITA) – 52.20
• Silver: Maro Miknic (CRO) – 52.49
• Bronze: Ethan Dumesnil (FRA) – 52.54

Italy’s Daniele Momoni kicked off the session with a boys 100 butterfly victory in 52.20, dropping more than half a second off his previous-best 52.84 from March.

Croatia’s Maro Miknic earned the runner-up finish in 52.49, within a few tenths of Momoni. He knocked almost a second off his previous-best 53.20 from World Junior Championships last September, where he placed 7th just ahead of Momoni.

France’s Ethan Dumesnil rounded out the podium with a 3rd-place showing in 52.54, just a hundredth ahead of Austria’s Lukas Edl (52.55). Dumesnil dropped seven-tenths of a second off his previous-best 53.24 from last month.

GIRLS 100 FREESTYLE – SEMIFINALS

• World Junior Record: 52.70, Penelope Oleksiak (2016)
• European Junior Record: Freya Anderson (2018)
• European Record: 51.71, Sarah Sjostrom (2017)
• Championship Record: 53.97, Marrit Steenbergen (2015)
• 2023 European Junior Champion: Smilte Plytnykaite (LTU) – 55.31

TOP 8 QUALIFIERS:

1. Sara Curtis (ITA) – 54.77
2. Grace Davison (IRL) / Minna Abraham (HUN) – 55.09
3. –
4. Albane Cachot (FRA) – 55.40
5. Linda Roth (GER) – 55.47
6. Dora Molnar (HUN) – 55.48
7. Giulia Rossi-Bene (FRA) – 55.49
8. Rebecca-Aimee Diaconescu (ROU) – 55.52

Rising Italian star Sara Curtis was the lone sub-55 swimmer in prelims this morning at 54.77 to pace the girls 100 freestyle semifinals. The sprint specialist touched only a few tenths shy of her personal-best 54.31 from March.

Ireland’s Grace Davison blasted a lifetime best of 55.09 to tie Hungary’s Minna Abraham for the second qualifying spot headed into Saturday’s final. Davison dropped a few tenths off her previous-best 55.44 from May while Abraham wasn’t far off her personal-best 54.90 from last month’s European Championships.

BOYS 200 BREASTSTROKE – FINAL

• World Junior Record: 2:08.83, Zhihao Dong (2023)
• European Junior Record: 2:09.64
• European Record: 2:06.12, Anton Chupkov (2019)
• Championship Record: 2:10.69, Anton Chupkov (2015)
• 2023 European Junior Champion: Steijn Louter (Netherlands) – 2:14.11

PODIUM:

• Gold: Doruk Yogurtcuoglu (TUR) – 2:12.66
• Silver: Filip Nowacki (GBR) – 2:12.74
• Bronze: Maksim Manolov (BUL) – 2:12.89

Turkey’s Doruk Yogurtcuoglu held off Great Britain’s Filip Nowacki (2:12.74) for the boys 200 breast title in 2:12.66.

Yogurtcuoglu demolished his previous-best 2:15.19 from last month by more than two seconds. Nowacki knocked more than three seconds off his previous-best 2:16.05 from last summer.

Bulgaria’s Maksim Manolov was only a couple tenths away from gold en route to a bronze medal in 2:12.89. He dropped almost two seconds off his previous-best 2:14.72 from March.

GIRLS 200 BUTTERFLY – SEMIFINALS

• World Junior Record: 2:04.70, Summer McIntosh (2023)
• European Junior Record: 2:06.71
• European Record: 2:04.27, Katinka Hosszu (2009)
• Championship Record: 2:08.41, Anastasia Markova (2021)
• 2023 European Junior Champion: Lana Pudar (Bosnia and Herzegovina), 2:09.58

TOP 8 QUALIFIERS:

1. Laura Cabanes Garzas (ESP) – 2:11.20
2. Alina Baievych (GER) – 2:11.44
3. Sarah Dumont (BEL) – 2:11.47
4. Giada Alzetta (ITA) – 2:12.39
5. Defne Tanig (TUR) – 2:12.56
6. Lucy Fox (FBR) – 2:12.66
7. Glenda Abonyi Toth (HUN) – 2:12.85
8. Hana Sekuti (SLO) – 2:13.25

Spain’s Laura Cabanes Garzas led the girls 200 butterfly semifinals in 2:11.20, a couple tenths ahead of Germany’s Alina Baievych (2:11.44) and Belgium’s Sarah Dumont (2:11.47).

Cabanes Garzas reached the wall a couple tenths shy of her personal-best 2:09.03 from last month. Baievych was within a second of her personal-best 2:10.78 from last summer while Dumont owns a lifetime best of 2:09.92 from May.

BOYS 50 FREESTYLE – FINAL

• World Junior Record: 21.75, Michael Andrew (2017)
• European Junior Record: 21.83, Artem Selin (2019)
• European Record: 20.94, Frederick Bousquet (2009)
• Championship Record: 21.83, Artem Selin (2019)
• 2022 European Junior Champion: Lorenzo Ballarati (Italy) – 22.56

PODIUM:

• Gold: Lorenzo Ballarati (ITA) – 22.20
• Silver: Luca Hoek le Guenedal (ESP) – 22.33
• Bronze: Tajus Juska (LTU) – 22.34

Italy’s Lorenzo Ballarati claimed the boys 50 free crown in 22.20, dropping .18 seconds off his previous-best 22.37 from Thursday’s semifinals. Before this meet, his best time stood at 22.38 from last year’s World Junior Championships, where he ultimately won bronze.

Spain’s Luca Hoek le Guenedal eked past 15-year-old Lithuanian Tajus Juska (22.34) in a tight battle for the silver medal. Hoek le Guenedal dropped a few tenths off his previous-best 22.63 from last month while Juska lowered his previous-best 22.58 from Thursday’s semifinals. For context, Juska is just one hundredth of a second away from Michael Andrew‘s U.S. boys 15-16 national age group (NAG) record of 22.33 from 2016.

GIRLS 200 BREASTSTROKE – FINAL

• World Junior Record: 2:19.64, Viktoria Gunes (2015)
• European Junior Record: 2:19.64, Viktoria Gunes (2015)
• European Record: 2:17.55, Evgeniia Chikunova (2023)
• Championship Record: 2:21.07, Evgeniia Chikunova (2019)
• 2023 European Junior Champion: Justine Delmas (France) – 2:25.62

PODIUM:

• Gold: Lena Ludwig (GER) – 2:28.70
• Silver: Theodora Taylor (GBR) – 2:28.71
• Bronze: Hannah Schneider (GER) – 2:29.30

In the closest race of the session so far, Germany’s Lena Ludwig snuck past Great Britain’s Theodora Taylor (2:28.71) with a winning time of 2:28.70.

Ludwig was about a second off her personal-best 2:27.68 from last summer while Taylor sliced almost half a second off her lifetime best from January (2:29.18).

Germany put two on the podium courtesy of Hannah Schneider (2:29.30), who barely missed her personal-best 2:29.00 from Thursday’s semifinals.

BOYS 200 BACKSTROKE – FINAL

• World Junior Record: 1:55.14, Kliment Kolesnikov (2017)
• European Junior Record: 1:55.14, Kliment Kolesnikov (2017)
• European Record: 1:53.23, Evgeny Rylov (2021)
• Championship Record: 1:55.79, Oleksandr Zheltyakov (2023)
• 2023 European Junior Champion: Oleksandr Zheltyakov (Ukraine) – 1:55.79

PODIUM:

• Gold: John Shortt (IRL) – 1:57.68
• Silver: Daniele del Signore (ITA) – 1:58.81
• Bronze: Alexandru Constantinescu (ROU) – 1:58.91

John Shortt took a couple tenths off his own Irish record from May (1:57.90) on his way to the boys 200 back win in 1:57.68.

Daniele del Signore dropped more than half a second off his previous-best 1:59.43 from last summer, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Shortt as he earned a runner-up finish in 1:58.81. Romania’s Alexandru Constantinescu was only a tenth behind del Signore with a 3rd-place showing in 1:58.91, knocking more than a second off his previous-best 2:00.07 from Thursday’s semifinals.

GIRLS 200 BACKSTROKE – FINAL

• World Junior Record: 2:03.35, Regan Smith (2019)
• European Junior Record: 2:06.62
• European Record: 2:04.94, Anastasia Fesikova (2009)
• Championship Record: 2:08.97, Polina Egorova (2017)
• 2023 European Junior Champion: Dora Molnar (Hungary), 2:11.06

PODIUM:

• Gold: Estella Llum Tonrath (ESP) – 2:10.78
• Silver: Aissia Claudia Prisecariu (ROU) – 2:11.14
• Bronze: Dora Molnar (HUN) – 2:11.56

Spain’s Estella Llum Tonrath captured the girls 200 back crown in 2:10.78, dropping a few seconds off her previous-best 2:12.38 from Thursday’s semifinals.

Romania’s Aissia Claudia Prisecariu reached the wall within half a second of Tonrath in 2:11.14, adding a silver medal to her collection. The 16-year-old has been as fast as 2:11.00 at last month’s European Championships.

Defending champion Dora Molnar of Hungary couldn’t defend her crown with a 3rd-place effort of 2:11.56, half a second slower than her winning time from last year.

BOYS 400 IM – FINAL

• World Junior Record: 4:10.02, Ilya Borodin (2021)
• European Junior Record: 4:10.02, Ilya Borodin (2021)
• European Record: 4:04.28, Leon Marchand (2022)
• Championship Record: 4:14.65, Semen Makovich (2013)
• 2023 European Junior Champion: Emanuele Potenza (Italy) – 4:21.90

PODIUM:

• Gold: Robert-Andrei Badea (ROU) – 4:14.37
• Silver: Domenico de Gregorio (ITA) – 4:21.02
• Bronze: Onur Ege Oksuz (TUR) – 4:22.73

Romanian 16-year-old Robert-Andrei Badea pulled off an IM sweep in epic fashion, taking down an 11-year-old meet record in the 400 IM with a winning time of 4:14.37. In the process, he lowered his own Romanian record of 4:16.43 from April by more than two seconds.

Italy’s Domenico de Gregorio took silver in 4:21.02, dropping more than two seconds off his previous-best 4:23.67 from July.

Turkey’s Onur Ege Oksuz earned the bronze medal in 4:22.73, more than a second slower than his prelims effort of 4:21.65 this morning.

MIXED 4×100 MEDLEY RELAY – FINAL

• World Junior Record: 3:44.84, United States (2019)
• European Junior Record: 3:47.99, Russia (2018)
• European Record: 3:37.58, Great Britain (2021)
• Championship Record: 3:47.99, Russia (2018)
• 2023 European Junior Champion: Denmark – 3:50.04

PODIUM:

• Gold: Great Britain – 3:49.55
• Silver: Italy – 3:49.95
• Bronze: Lithuania – 3:50.23

The last race of the evening came down to a thrilling finish, with Great Britain’s Hollie Widdows (54.38 freestyle anchor) holding off Italy’s Sara Curtis (54.40 split) for the victory.

Daniele del Signore opened with a 54.83 backstroke leadoff for Italy to give his quartet a wide lead against the Brits, who went with Blythe Kinsman for the opening backstroke leg (1:02.10). But the Brits engineered an impressive comeback courtesy of Max Morgan (1:00.29 breast) and Nicholas Finch (52.78 fly), who put them in 2nd place heading into the final freestyle leg.