2025 World Junior Championships: Day 5 Finals Live Recap

2025 World Junior Swimming Championships

• August 19-24, 2025
• Otopeni, Romania
• LCM (50 meters)
• Meet Central
• Meet Packet
• Team Leaders’ Guide
• SwimSwam Event Page
• SwimSwam Preview
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• Live Results
• Live Recaps
  • Prelims: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5
  • Finals: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4

Day 5 Finals Heat Sheet

Hello, swim fans! It’s time for the penultimate finals session of the 2025 World Junior Championships. We’ve already had a world junior record broken this morning, so this stands to be another speedy session.

Day 5 Finals Schedule:

• Girls’ 1500 freestyle — fastest heat
• Boys’ 100 freestyle — semifinals
• Girls’ 100 butterfly — semifinals
• Boys’ 50 butterfly — final
• Girls’ 50 freestyle — semifinals
• Boys’ 50 breaststroke — semifinals
• Girls’ 50 backstroke — final
• Boys’ 400 IM — final
• Girls’ 4×100 freestyle relay — final

There are only two events over 100 meters tonight, and the session kicks off with one: the fastest heat of the girls’ 1500 freestyle. Romania’s Gabriel Diana Stiger is in the hot seat after prelims with a time of 16:39.88. All eight girls in the final have a faster seed, led by China’s Yang Peiqi, who is looking to complete her sweep of the 400/800/1500 freestyle this week.

The next final is the boys’ 50 butterfly. There, Great Britain’s Dean Fearn aims to hold the top spot and win his first individual gold medal of the meet after picking up bronze in the 100 butterfly. He swam a lifetime best 23.36 in the semifinals, which gives him a .12 second lead on Nigeria’s Abdul Jabar Adama. Adama set a Nigerian record in prelims and semifinals (23.48) and will push Fearn all the way to the wall.

This final comes in the middle of sprint semifinals spree, including the boys’ 100 freestyle, girls’ 100 butterfly,

The stage then shifts to a flurry of sprint semifinals including the boys’ 100 freestyle, girls’ 100 butterfly, girls’ 50 freestyle, and boys’ 50 breaststroke. The 50 breaststroke was the event of the morning, as Jan Malte Grafe swam 26.95, breaking Nicolo Martinenghi‘s world junior record. He’ll swim out of the second semifinal, while the first heat will feature another race between Filip Nowacki and Shin Ohashi.

Other names to watch out for in these semifinals include Carlos D’Ambrosio and Jacob Mills (boys’ 100 freestyle), Mizuki Hirai and Charlotte Crush (girls’ 100 butterfly), and Rylee Erisman and Theodora Taylor (girls’ 50 freestyle).

The session closes out with three finals: the girls’ 50 backstroke, boys’ 400 IM, and girls’ 4×100 freestyle relay. After breaking the championship record in semifinals, Kim Seungwon comes into the girls’ 50 backstroke final as the favorite (27.77). She led a group of four girls sub-28 seconds in the second round. The four (Kin, Blythe Kinsman, Ainsley Trotter, and Jessica Thompson) are separated by just .21 seconds, promising a tight fight for the podium. Crush will be on the back half of a double but could surprise out of lane 8 as well.

Yumeki Kojima is the world junior record holder in the boys’ 400 IM, but after posting a 4:21.10 in the event prelims, will swim out of lane 2 in the final. Instead, it’s his teammate Raito Numata, the 200 freestyle bronze medalist, who has lane four. Numata posted a 4:16.96 to lead the prelims, a few-tenths ahead of Yi Zheng‘s 4:17.20. Watch for Kojima to move way up and get involved in the action at the front of the race tonight.

GIRLS’ 1500 FREESTYLE – Fastest Heat (TIMED FINAL)

• World Record: 15:20.48 – Katie Ledecky, United States (2018)
• World Junior Record: 15:28.36 – Katie Ledecky, United States (2014)
• Championship Record: 15:58.86 – Lani Pallister, Australia (2019)

Final: 

1. Yang Peiqi (China) — 16:08.37
2. Kseniia Misharina (NAB) — 16:12.63
3. Emma Vittoria Giannelli (Italy) — 16:15.40
4. Chloe Kim (United States) — 16:22.56
5. Amelie Blocksidge (Great Britain) — 16:28.25
6. Polina Koziakina (NAB) — 16:34.31
7. Daisy Collins (United States) — 16:39.38
8. Vivien Jackl (Hungary) — 16:39.42

A day after breaking the championship record in the girls’ 400 freestyle, Yang Peiqi hit the wall first in the girls’ 1500 freestyle for her third individual gold medal of the meet. Yang swam a 16:08.37, about four seconds off her lifetime best from the 2025 World Championships earlier this season. Still, the time was enough to easily secure the 400/800/1500 freestyle triple as she touched 4.26 seconds ahead of Kseniia Misharina.

Mishiarina held the lead through the early part of the race, and event once Yang pulled about even with her at the 650-meter mark was still flipping ahead of the Chinese distance ace. The pair were locked together for the majority of the race’s back half–at 100 meters to go, Yang held the lead by less than a tenth.

Yang put the pedal down over the final 100 meters, splitting 29.99/29.14 to fully shake off Misharina and go full steam towards gold. Misharina held on for a silver in 16:12.63, almost three seconds ahead of Italy’s Emma Vittoria Giannelli.

There were big gaps all over the place, as the 4th place finished Chloe Kim checked in at 16:22.56. There was a close race for the top eight though, as Daisy Collins and Vivien Jackl touched in 16:39.38 and 16:39.42, putting this morning’s fastest swimmer, Stiger, in 9th (16:39.88).

BOYS’ 100 FREESTYLE – Semifinals

• World Record: 46.40 – Pan Zhanle, China (2024)
• World Junior Record: 46.86 – David Popovici, Romania (2022)
• Championship Record: 47.07 – David Popovici, Romania (2022)

Final Qualifiers:

1. Jacob Mills (Great Britain) — 47.74
2. Carlos D’ Ambrosio (Italy) — 47.86
3. Roman Zhidkov (NAB) — 48.92
4. Tajus Juska (Lithuania) — 49.01
5. Ben Luke Cotroneo (Australia) — 49.33
6. Gabriel Shepherd (Great Britain) — 49.44
7. Neo Dutriaux (France) — 49.56
8. Austin Carpenter (United States) — 49.59

Great Britain’s Jacob Mills continued his excellent season tonight. After claiming silver in the 50 freestyle earlier in the meet, this evening Mills posted the fastest time of the boys’ 100 freestyle semifinals with a 47.74. That’s a lifetime best for Mills, blowing past the 48.03 he swam at Great Britain’s National Championships in April. The teenager is now the third fastest British man in event history, moving out of a tie for 5th with Jacob Whittle and past Tom Dean and Duncan Scott.

His swim sets him up for a great race with Italy’s quickly rising freestyle star Carlos D’Ambrosio. D’Ambrosio won the 200 freestyle in a championship and Italian record 1:45.15 earlier this meet and is in a strong position to claim his second gold of the meet after firing off a 47.86 in semifinals. The swim is just off the lifetime best he swam in Singapore and moves him well up from his 10th place position after prelims.

This week’s 100 butterfly champion Tajus Juska qualified 4th overall, checking in with a 49.01, just missing dipping under the 49-second barrier. While Mills and D’Ambrosio were the only two boys under 48 seconds, Roman Zhidakov joined them sub-49 seconds with a 49.82 semifinal swim.

This morning it took a sub-50 second effort to earn a second swim. The qualifying time got substantially quicker tonight, with a 49.59 sneaking into the final in 8th. Austin Carpenter grabbed that final spot, two-hundredths ahead of his American teammate Michael Rice, who finished 9th in 49.61.

GIRLS’ 100 BUTTERFLY – Semifinals

• World Record: 54.60 – Gretchen Walsh, United States (2025)
• World Junior Record: 56.33 – Mizuki Hirai, Japan (2024)
• Championship Record: 57.25 – Rikako Ikee, Japan (2017)

Final Qualifiers: 

1. Mizuki Hirai (Japan) — 57.02 *Championship Record*
2. Audrey Derivaux (United States) — 57.57
3. Gong Zhenqi (China) — 57.84
4. Charlotte Crush (United States) — 58.17
5. Clare Watson (Canada) — 58.60
6. Serafima Fokina (NAB) — 58.77
7. Aliisa Soini (Finland) — 58.93
8. Caterina Santambogio (Italy) — 58.96

Mizuki Hirai put on a show during the second semifinal of the girls’ 100 butterfly. Already the 50 butterfly silver medalist this week, Hirai swam a 100 butterfly championship record to qualify first for tomorrow’s final.

Hirai was out in 26.65, then came home in a quick 30.37, stopping the clock in 57.02. The swim undercuts the 57.25 record that Rikako Ikee set at the 2017 World Junior Championships. Hirai heads into the final .55 seconds ahead of the second-fastest qualifer, Audrey Derivaux. Derivaux has been excellent at this meet, claiming three individual golds all in events 200-meters and above. Now, she’s turned her attention to the 100-meter discipline and looks like a strong candidate for a medal tomorrow night. Her qualifying time of 57.57 is a new lifetime best, improving from 57.99 at the 2024 Junior Pan Pacs.

The top three swimmers were all under 58 seconds, as Gong Zhenqi swam a 57.84 to finish 2nd in the second semifinal behind Hirai. Meanwhile, the Americans went 1-2 in the first semifinal as Charlotte Crush touched second to Derivaux with a 58.17. It was a solid effort from Crush in her first individual swim of the session. Later, she’ll swim in the 50 backstroke final.

200 butterfly silver medalist Serafima Fokina is also looking to grab another butterfly medal this week, though she’ll need to be faster than 58.77 to do so.

BOYS’ 50 BUTTERFLY – Final

• World Record: 22.27 – Andrii Govorov, Ukraine (2018)
• World Junior Record: 22.96 – Diogo Ribeiro, Portugal (2022)
• Championship Record: 22.96 – Diogo Ribeiro, Portugal (2022)

Final: 

1. Dean Fearn (Great Britain) — 23.54
2. Abdul Jabar Adama (Nigeria) — 23.64
3. Jan Foltyn (Czechia) — 23.65
4. Lucio Flavio de Paula Filho (Brazil) — 23.71
5. Evgenii Shilovskii (NAB) — 23.72
6. Rishat Zhumagulov (Kazakhstan) — 23.89
7. Maxim Skazobtsov (Kazakhstan) — 23.99
8. Szymon Mroz (Poland) — 24.06

Dean Fearn held onto the top spot in the boys’ 50 butterfly, winning gold out of lane four. It was a slightly slower final than semifinals, as 23.54 was enough for Fearn to win after swimming a 23.36 in the semifinals.

This is Fearn’s first individual gold of the week. Earlier, he won bronze in the boys’ 100 butterfly (52.33). He won by a tenth, finishing ahead of Nigeria’s Abdul Jabar Adama. Adama swam a Nigerian record in the prelims and semifinals of the event, lowering the mark to 23.48 as he established himself further as a name to watch for the rest of this Olympic quad.

Tonight, Adama posted as 23.64 to win silver, getting his hands on the wall a hundredth ahead of Jan Foltyn. Lucio Flavio de Paula Filho, the 100 butterfly silver medalist, finished 4th, pipping Evgenii Shilovskii by a hundredth as well, 23.71 to 23.72.

GIRLS’ 50 FREESTYLE – Semifinals

• World Record: 23.61 – Sarah Sjoestrom, Sweden (2023)
• World Junior Record: 24.17 – Claire Curzan, United States (2021)
• Championship Record: 24.59 – Rikako Ikee, Japan (2017) / Olivia Wunsch, Australia (2023)

Final Qualifiers: 

1. Rylee Erisman (United States) — 24.69
2. Jana Pavalic (Croatia) — 24.79
3. Theodora Taylor (Great Britain) — 24.82
4. Annam Olasewere (United States) — 24.94
5. Kira Manokhina (NAB) — 24.98
6. Li Sum Yiu (Hong Kong) — 25.28
7. Skye Carter (Great Britain) — 25.33
8. Martine Damborg (Denmark) — 25.34

Rylee Erisman has been the most engaging female sprinter to watch at this meet. She excelled through the rounds of the 100 freestyle, rattling the world junior record in her gold medal-winning swim. Tonight, she set herself up to do the 50/100 freestyle sprint double, posting the fastest time of the semifinals with a 24.69.

The time is just off her lifetime best, which stands as 24.62 from the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials. It also improves on her prelims swim, where she logged the top time in 24.78.

This morning, Erisman was the only girl to break 25 seconds. She was far from alone in doing so this evening, as the top five qualifiers all broke through that barrier. Croatia’s Jana Pavalic touched a tenth behind Erisman in the second semifinal (24.79) and will swim out of lane five tomorrow night.

Great Britain’s Theodora Taylor won the first semifinal with a 24.82, good enough for third-fastest overall. She was the bronze medalist in the 100 freestyle earlier in the meet. Both the United States and Great Britain will have two representatives in the final, withAnnam Olasewere (24.94) and Skye Carter (25.33) joining their teammates Erisman and Taylor.

50 butterfly bronze medalist Martine Damborg snuck into the final in 8th (25.34), showcasing her sprint speed across multiple strokes.

BOYS’ 50 BREASTSTROKE – Semifinals

• World Record: 25.95 – Adam Peaty, GBR (2017)
• World Junior Record: 26.95 – Jan Malte Grafe, Germany (2025)
• Championship Record: 26.95 – Jan Malte Grafe, Germany (2025)

Final Qualifiers: 

1. Jan Malte Grafe (Germany) — 27.18
2. Nusrat Allahverdi (Turkey) — 27.22
3. Shin Ohashi (Japan) — 27.34
4. Filip Nowacki (Great Britain) — 27.43
5. Max Morgan (Great Britain) — 27.47
6. Jan Gajda (Poland) — 27.61
7. Ian Call (United States) — 27.64
8. Oleg Plotnikov (NAB) — 27.70

After the fireworks of a world junior record this morning, Jan Malte Grafe came back to the field a bit in the boys’ 50 breaststroke semifinals. He broke through the 27-second barrier this morning with a 26.95 world junior record. Tonight, he was a 27.18, holding onto the top seed for the final by just .04 seconds ahead of Nurat Allahverdi (27.22).

The first semifinal featured another head-to-head between Filip Nowacki and Shin Ohashi, the gold and silver medalists in the 100- and 200- breaststrokes this week. Tonight, Ohashi hit the wall ahead of Nowacki, winning the first semifinal 27.34 to 27.43. The two swimmers qualified third and fourth for the final, and Nowacki will be joined by his British teammate Max Morgan. Morgan swam 27.47, four-hundredths behind Nowacki. 

GIRLS’ 50 BACKSTROKE – Final

• World Record: 26.86 – Kaylee McKeown, Australia (2023)
• World Junior Record: 27.49 – Minna Atherton, Australia (2016)
• Championship Record: 27.77 – Kim Seungwon, South Korea (2025)

Final: 

1. Ainsley Trotter (Australia) — 27.88
2. Kim Seungwon (South Korea) — 28.00
3. Blythe Kinsman (Great Britain) — 28.04
4. Jessica Thompson (South Africa) — 28.06
5. Milana Stepanova (NAB) — 28.11
6. Li Jiawei (China) — 28.14
7. Varvara Hlushchenko (Poland) — 28.15
8. Charlotte Crush (United States) — 28.55

Kim Seungwon set a championship record in the girls’ 50 backstroke semifinals, but it was Ainsley Trotter who got the job done for gold in the final. Trotter got her hand on the wall in 27.88, .11 seconds off Kim’s day-old championship record in a lifetime best.

This evening, Trotter was the only finalist to break through 28 seconds, with Kim getting her hand on the wall for silver in 28.00. It was a tight race for the silver and bronze medals, with six-hundredths separating the second-place Kim and fourth-place Jessica Thompson. It was Blythe Kinsman earned the final step on the podium in 28.04.

BOYS’ 400 IM – Final

• World Record: 4:02.50 – Leon Marchand, France (2023)
• World Junior Record: 4:09.38 – Yumeki Kojima, Japan (2025)
• Championship Record: 4:10.97 – Tomayuki Matsushita, Japan (2023)

Final: 

1. Raito Numata (Japan) — 4:11.37
2. Yumeki Kojima (Japan) — 4:12.99
3. Robert-Andrei Badea (Romania) — 4:13.79
4. Yi Zheng (United States) — 4:18.16
5. Gu Enyi (China) — 4:19.22
6. Anton Denysenko (Ukraine) — 4:21.25
7. Aleksandr Shipitsyn (NAB) — 4:22.39
8. Denis Piataikin (NAB) — 4:23.18

It was a Japanese 1-2 finish in the boys’ 400 IM as Raito Numata and world junior record holder Yumeki Kojima battled for the gold medal.

Numata held the lead at the 100-meter mark, posting a 56.71 on the butterfly leg. Yi Zheng was second (56.88) with Kojima sitting third in 56.93. Kojima qualified 5th for the final but made it clear early that he was on cruise control this morning. He pulled into the lead after 50 meters of backstroke with a 32.05 split. He split 32.17 on the second 50 meters, hitting the halfway mark at 2:01.15, .79 seconds ahead of Numata.

Numata struck back on the breaststroke leg, splitting 1:12.18 to retake the lead by about two-tenths. Numata was the 200 freestyle bronze medalist this week and that skill benefitted him here, as he split 57.25 on the freestyle leg, coming home for gold with a 27.11 closing split.

Numata touched the wall in 4:11.37, 1.62 seconds ahead of his teammate Kojima’s 4:12.99. Romania’s Robert-Andrei Badea took bronze in 4:13.79, less than a second behind Kojima.

The rest of the field was much further back, as only the medalists broke 4:18.

GIRLS’ 4×100 FREESTYLE RELAY – Final

• World Record: 3:27.96 – Australia (2023)
• World Junior Record: 3:36.19 – Canada (2017)
• Championship Record: 3:36.19 – Canada (2017)

Final: 

1. USA (Erisman, Clark, Mishler, King) — 3:35.53 *World Junior Record*
2. NAB (Manokhina, Poleshchuk, Zakharova, Stepanova) — 3:37.87
3. China (Luo, Yan, Chen, Yang) — 3:40.38
4. Italy — 3:41.19
5. Canada — 3:42.77
6. Australia — 3:43.33
7. Lithuania — 3:43.86
8. Croatia — 3:46.80

The world junior record in the girls’ 4×100 freestyle relay had stood at 3:36.19 since Taylor Ruck, Penny Oleksiak, Rebecca Smith, and Kayla Sanchez hit that mark at the 2017 World Junior Championships.

The United States quartet of Rylee Erisman (53.41), Liberty Clark (53.85), Julie Mishler (54.65), and Lily King (53.62) crushed that mark, combining for a 3;35.53 to win gold in a world junior record time. Erisman led off in a 53.41, well off the 52.79 she swam to win gold in the individual 100 freestyle. She still hit the wall in the lead, which the U.S held onto for the entire race.

The team won by 2.34 seconds, with the Neutral Athletes – B team of Kira Manokhina (54.51), Mariia Poleshchuk (54.49), Alisa Zakharova (54.45), and Milana Stepanova (54.42) getting silver with a 3:37.87. They were the only other team to break 3:40, as China’s team of Luo Mingyu (55.65), Yan Tiaoshan (55.47), Chen Yizhou (54.75), and Yang Peiqi (54.51)–in a great flex of her range–swimming 3:40.38 for bronze.