6TH FINA WORLD JUNIOR SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Wednesday, August 23 – Monday, August 28, 2017
- 50-Meter Course
- Indianapolis (USA)
- Heats 9:30 am EDT / Semifinals and Finals 6 pm EDT (GMT-4)
- Meet Central
- Meet info
- Schedule
- Entries book
- Omega results
- TV/Webcast schedule (USA)
- Live stream NBC Sports
- Live stream FINA (Heats and finals, for subscribers only. Not available in USA, Guam, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Brazil, South Africa, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Brunei, China)
- Live stream FINA YouTube (Heats only, free of charge)
Before we get into the storylines to watch out for, click here to access the All the Links You Need page for WJRs. Also, note that these storylines are not meant to be exhaustive– there are plenty of great races and stories to follow this week; there are just a few of the most compelling.
#1 MICHAEL ANDREW TO EITHER SHINE OR BE UPSTAGED
Michael Andrew‘s name, times and training methods have become hot-button topics, and the pro sprinter will be put to the test against the world’s top junior swimmers this week.
He’s a versatile swimmer, so it should come as little surprise that he’s entered in six different events. He’s taking on all four 50’s, the 100 breast, and the 200 IM this week, and he holds top seeds in the 50 free, 50 fly, and 200 IM. Top seeds are nice, but Andrew has been tanking races more often than usual this year, it seems, and best times are coming much less often for him.
In five of his six races, there are immediate threats to his potential titles. WJR holder Nicolo Martinenghi is the favorite in the 50 and 100 breaststrokes, and in the 50 back, Russia’s Kliment Kolesnikov has been on fire this year and is the top seed there.
Meanwhile, though nobody is within three tenths of Andrew in the 50 fly or 50 free, there is trouble waiting for him in the 200 IM. He’s the top seed there at 1:59.12, but Spain’s Hugo Gonzalez (1:59.91) and Kolesnikov (2:00.27) are within striking distance. The 200 IM is an intriguing race for Andrew, too– he’s already broken 2:00 before he’s done being a junior, yet we’ve seen the piano on his back many times in this race, bringing into question his ability to consistently perform in LCM over more than 200 meters.
Even if things do go poorly for Andrew, there’s a very good chance he’ll eke out 2-3 wins this week in Indianapolis. If he’s on fire all week, he could even walk away from The Nat with six gold medals, plus any relay hardware.
#2 REGAN SMITH COMING IN HOT OFF OF WORLDS
Regan Smith had a breakout year, qualifying for Worlds and actually racing at a senior Worlds before her first junior international meet.
While she only got to swim the 200 back in Budapest, she’ll get to race a broader schedule in Indy. Smith is the top seed in the 200 back (2:07.19) with a time that briefly gave her possession of the world junior record at Worlds semis before Australia’s Kaylee McKeown took it down in the final the following night. There will be no McKeown in Indy, putting Smith as the 200 back top seed by almost two full seconds over Russia’s Polina Egorova.
Egorova is the 100 back top seed (59.62) just over Smith (59.70), making for a thrilling 100 back final.
Smith is also entered in the 50 back, 50 fly, and 100 fly, and it will be exciting to see her racing in more than just one event.
#3 HOW MUCH WILL THE CANADIAN YOUTH WHEEL KEEP TURNING?
Taylor Ruck is the big name here– she’s been at the forefront of the Canadian women’s youth movement the last two years that keeps chugging along. Ruck faltered and missed the Worlds team, but she’s been especially impressive in backstroke this summer, the stroke that has been on the back burner for her since she ended up making the 2016 Olympic team for her freestyle prowess.
Ruck’s only racing two events this week individually, the 100 back (3rd seed) and the 200 free (2nd seed). She’s far from the only rising name representing Canada at this meet, however.
Rebecca Smith and Kayla Sanchez are at the top of the psych sheets in multiple events. Smith is seeded 2nd in the 50 and 100 fly, 3rd in the 200 free, and 5th in the 100 free, while Sanchez is 3rd in the 100 free, 5th in the 200 IM, and 10th in the 50 free.
The Canadians have the strokes covered fairly well, too. Faith Knelson is seeded 3rd, 4th, and 6th across the 50, 100, and 200 breast, respectively, while Jade Hannah is seeded 6th in the 50 back and 8th in the 100 and 200. Meanwhile, Mabel Zavaros is the 7th seed in the 100 fly, 8th in the 200 fly, and 11th in the 400 IM.
To answer the headline question– the wheel is definitely still in motion, and the talent is churning out. Even without Olympic champion Penny Oleksiak, the Canadian women look very strong at this meet, reflecting the kind of excellence that Swimming Canada is aspiring to.
#4 ALL EYES ON KRISTOF MILAK AND HUNGARY
In Budapest, Kristof Milak had a huge 50.62 in the 100 fly to pickup the silver medal behind only Caeleb Dressel. That came after his 1:53.79 200 fly at European Juniors, and both times are faster than Michael Phelps was at his age. Could he go even faster this week? He’s one of the only swimmers at this meet with experience in the final of a major senior international meet, and he might drop even more jaw-dropping times in Indy.
Look past Milak, and you’ll see a crop of young Hungarian talent. In the sprint free, Nandor Nemeth is a name to watch– he’s the top seed in the 200 free (1:47.14), and not far off of the WJR in that, while he’s also the 1st seed in the 100 free and 4th in the 50 free. Go up to the distance free, and Akos Kalmar (3:50.03) and Richard Marton (3:50.22) are seeded 1-2 in the 400 free, while Kalmar (7:56.23) and David Lakatos (7:57.57) are 2-3 in the 800 and Kalmar (15:09.24) and Lakatos (15:14.28) are 3-5 in the mile.
On the women’s side, Ajna Kesely is top seed in the 200 and 400 free and 2nd in the 800 and 1500. She was one of the young members of the Hungarian Worlds roster in Budapest, and she has a chance to medal in all four of her events. Boglarka Bonecz is 5th in the 200 fly, while Fanni Gyurinovics and Petra Barocsai are seeded in the top 10, too.
After Hungary put on an impressive performance at Worlds, it’s time for their younger generation to show the world what they have in Indy.
#5 IKEE AND KOLESNIKOV EXPECTED TO PICKUP MULTIPLE TITLES
Japan’s Rikako Ikee and Russia’s Kliment Kolesnikov are the biggest names besides Milak competing this week. Both hold WJRs, and they both hold top seeds by considerable margins in multiple events.
Ikee, the WJR holder in the 50 fly, is seeded first in the 50 & 100 fly and 50 & 100 free. She’s the only entrant sub-25 in the 50 free, sub-26 in the 50 fly, and sub-58 in the 100 fly. Kolesnikov, meanwhile, is the top seed in all the backstrokes* and the 3rd seed in the 200 IM.
If Andrew isn’t able to beat Martinenghi in the breaststrokes, Kolesnikov and Ikee could walk away with at least three golds each, provided Andrew (or someone else) stops Milak in the 50 fly.
UPDATE: Kliment Kolesnikov is not listed on the start list for the 100 back.
Maybe USRPT’s effects are catching up to MA?
I used to favor and have so much hope for Michael Andrew. But if keeps up these foo foo events that others can easily upstage him in (anything can happen in a 50) I can’t support him anymore. It’s so ridiculous that someone with so much talent would focus on only 50s of a stroke. Start swimming some real events.
And considering that he focused on the 50 of events and were surpassed on almost all events by the juniors who does not focus on 50 themselves but are overall good on the stroke..
Well when you’re sets at practice are 20×25 AFAP on 30 it’s hard to be good at anything longer than a 100 due to a lack of aerobic base, it’s made even worse by his technique which means he has to muscle through every one of his races. If he changed some of his training to give him more of an aerobic base and fixed his technique he really could be very very fast and competitive in all events up to a 200
MA … he was home schooled , home trained 1 v 1 , individual attention 100 % and workouts 3 times a day …. how many kids are trained in this kind of environment ????…. Give me a 6’5″ kid and give me same schedule and I AM SURE, that we will have extremely fast swimmer as a result … It has nothing to do with his training , his physical tool are good… too bad that his hormones now leveled off and he cannot finish 200 IM without the piano on his back.
Again … take a 5 years old and train it like monkey 3 times a day in your personal pool 3 times a day, no… Read more »
I’m not impressed with a touted junior who specializes in the 50s. No margin there. Specialists everywhere and you’re doomed to be spit out to irrelevancy in the big leagues.
Are you referring to the 100 IM SCM World Champion at age 17?
He’d probably be up there as well if they had 25’s. The SCM events don’t really count to people on this site because the important and major competitions are all LCM. 100 IM isn’t a “real” event and they don’t offer it as a race at pretty much any competition unless you’re 10 and under. If he had won the 100 breast or 50 free then it’d be more serious but he won a “gimmick” event as people love to call them at a worlds where half the major names didin’t show up and half the people that did were not taking it very seriously in terms of their preparation.
In an event that’s not even real???
Consulting the starting-lists, it seems that Kolesnikov will be absent from every individual race.
Great write up. Excited for this!
Do we know why Oleksiak isn’t going to the World Juniors?
It’ll be interesting to see how many events Ikee can win, and if Ruck can defend her 200m freestyle title against her.
Oleksiak will be there but only swimming relays. Maybe the decision is from her rather than Swimming CAN given that she has already basically transitioned to senior level in a competitive sense ? Some in the same category (Ikee) are still doing both whereas others (AUS Atherton, McKeown Jr) are not at this meet although still age eligible.
I guess that makes sense. Since she’s already good enough to qualify for three individual finals at Worlds (the only teenager in two of them, including the fastest women’s 100m freestyle final in history), it’s probably better to give Canada’s other juniors some individual experience.