2025 World Junior Swimming Championships
- August 19-24, 2025
- Otopeni, Romania
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Agostina Hein threw down a stunning performance in Otopeni tonight, shattering three records with one swim during the final of the women’s 400 IM.
The Argentine swimmer blasted into the wall in 4:34.34, winning the event by over a second and knocking over four seconds off of her own former lifetime best (4:38.41), which she just set earlier in August.
Hein’s performance completely annihilated the Championship Record, South American Record and the Argentine National Record in the 400 IM, as she took at least two seconds off of each one.
The Championship Record previously stood at 4:36.84, set by Leah Hayes of the United States in 2023, while both the South American Record and the Argentine Record were previously 4:37.51, set by Georgina Bardach in 2004.
Record Comparison
| Old Record | New Record | |
| Championship Record | 4:36.84 (Hayes, 2023) | 4:34.34 (Hein, 2025) |
| South American Record | 4:37.51 (Bardach, 2004) | 4:34.34 (Hein, 2025) |
| Argentine Record | 4:37.51 (Bardach, 2004) | 4:34.34 (Hein, 2025) |
Hein’s defeat of Bardach’s national record stood marks a significant milestone for Argentina’s swimming as it stood for 19 years after Bardach broke the record with a performance that won her the bronze medal in the 400 IM at the 2004 Athens Olympics. To this day, that result marks Argentina’s only Olympic swimming medal within the last 89 years.
Hein was out first in 1:01.90 at the 100 mark, building a lead of about half a second heading into backstroke before splitting 1:09.50 on the next 100 and falling behind Audrey Derivaux of the United States. Hein reclaimed the lead on the breaststroke, posting a split of 1:22.02, before coming home in 1:01.73 on the freestyle to claim the gold.
She was not the only competitor in the field to enjoy a top swim tonight, as Great Britain’s Amalie Smith claimed the runner-up spot in 4:35.49 and broke her own British Age Group record in the process. The 15-year-old dropped about a second-and-a-half from the former record (4:37.02) that she set in early July this season, lowering the standard for the girls’ 15 years age group by a significant amount.
Hein has four more events on her lineup for the week, as she is currently entered in the 200 IM, 200 fly, 400 free and 800 free, while Smith is scheduled to compete in the 200 IM, 200 breast and 200 free.
Amazing swim! And she’s matching McIntosh’s entries from WCs 👀
She seems to have dropped the 200 FL, understandable given she has the 800 FR the same session. Still in for a tough double in the 400 FR and 200 IM, maybe she drops another one later.
She is following a similar path to McIntosh in terms of events. She started making waves in the 800/1500 FR and qualified to the Olympics in the 400/800. But has shifted more to the IMs as main focus, plus the 400 FR. Her fourth event right now would be a fight between the 800 and the 200 FL. Ironically, today she set her first NR in any of these events, while she has two in her non primary events, the 200 FR… Read more »