2025 World Junior Swimming Championships
- August 19-24, 2025
- Otopeni, Romania
- LCM (50 meters)
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DAY 3 PRELIMS HEAT SHEET
Welcome to the 3rd day of the 2025 World Junior Championships in Otopeni, Romania! We’ve had a great start to the meet, having now seen a handful of Championship Records go down. Today’s session is heavy on 50s, so we can look forward to some pure speed today.
DAY 3 PRELIMS SCHEDULE:
- Girls 50 Butterfly
- Boys 50 Backstroke
- Girls 100 Breaststroke
- Boys 50 Freestyle
- Girls 200 Backstroke
- Mixed 4×100 Freestyle Relay
- Boys 800 Freestyle (Slow Heats)
The girls 50 fly will kick off this morning’s session, and it looks like it should turn into a great battle over the next 36 hours. There are 2 swimmers entered under 26 seconds: NAB’s Mariia Osetrova (25.79) and Japan’s Mizuki Hirai (25.94). Hiari notably split 56.68 on the fly leg of Japan’s gold medal-winning mixed 4×100 medley relay last night.
We have a similar battle brewing in the boys 50 back, where there are 2 swimmers coming in entered under 25 seconds. NAB’S Georgii Iakovlev is the top seed, entering with a 24.55, while Australia’s Henry Allan is entered at 24.88. Ireland’s John Shortt, the gold medalist in the 100 back last night, will also be in the mix in this event.
In the boys 50 free, Great Britain’s Jacob Mills comes in as the top seed with a 21.96. Mills has already put up a pair of excellent 100 frees this week leading off GBR’s boys 4×100 free relay. He’ll have to contend with Italy’s Carlos D’Ambrosio, however, and D’Ambrosio has been on fire through the first two days of the meet. D’Ambrosio is coming off a gold medal in the 200 free last night, in which he broke the Championship Record and the Italian Record in the event. He also ripped a 47.02 anchoring the Italian mixed 4×100 medley relay last night, so Mills will have his hands full.
After winning the girls 100 back last night, American Charlotte Crush will be back in action in the 200 back today. Crush comes in as the top seed with a 2:07.05, which notably is under the Championship Record of 2:07.45.
GIRLS 50 BUTTERFLY – PRELIMS
- World Record: 24.43 – Sarah Sjostrom, SWE (2014)
- World Junior Record: 25.46 – Rikako Ikee, JPN (2017)
- Championship Record: 25.46 – Rikako Ikee, JPN (2017)
TOP 16 QUALIFIERS:
- Mizuki Hirai (JPN) – 26.09
- Zoe Pedersen (NZL) – 26.17
- Martine Damborg (DEN) – 26.35
- Mena Boardman (USA) – 26.46
- Jessica Thompson (RSA) – 26.47
- Charlotte Crush (USA) – 26.49
- Jana Pavalic (CRO) – 26.50 (TIE)
- Olivia Louise Hine (AUS) – 26.50 (TIE)
- Aliisa Soini (FIN) – 26.62
- Flawia Kamzol (POL) – 26.65
- Mariia Osetrova (NAB) – 26.73
- Sofiya Abubakirova (KAZ) – 26.79
- Matea Gigovic (CAN) – 26.82
- Caterina Santambrogio (ITA) – 26.92
- Yara Riefstahl (GER) – 27.08
- Malia Ma (HGK) – 27.14
We’re off to the races this morning with the girls 50 fly. Japan’s Mizuki Hirai led the way this morning, swimming a 26.09. That was an excellent morning swim from Hirai, who holds a personal best of 25.94.
NAB’s Mariia Osetrova was 11th this morning with a 26.73. Osetrova entered the morning as the top seed, holding a personal best of 25.79. She got the job done this morning, advancing to the semifinal, however, she’s going to need to go faster tonight in order to qualify for finals tomorrow night.
Both Americans had strong showings this morning, seeing Mena Boardman come in 4th with a 26.46. Charlotte Crush was 6th this morning, swimming a 26.49. Both girls were about a quarter-of-a-second off their personal bests.
Denmark’s Martine Damborg had a good swim this morning, finishing 3rd overall with a 26.35.
BOYS 50 BACKSTROKE – PRELIMS
- World Record: 23.55 – Kliment Kolesnikov, RUS (2023)
- World Junior Record: 24.00 – Kliment Kolesnikov, RUS (2018)
- Championship Record: 24.44 – Ksawery Masiuk, POL (2022)
TOP 16 QUALIFIERS:
- Gavin Keogh (USA) – 25.18
- Georgii Iakovlev (NAB) – 25.19
- Henry Allan (AUS) – 25.22
- Mikhail Shcherbakov (NAB) – 25.28
- Daniele del Signore (ITA) – 25.42
- Kenneth Barnicle (USA) – 25.54
- John Shortt (IRL) – 25.60
- R.-C. Fadda-Sauvageot (FRA) – 25.70
- Parker Deshayes (CAN) – 25.71
- Liam Carrington (TTO) – 25.76
- Rio Daodu (GBR) – 25.79 (TIE)
- Tedd Chan (SGP) – 25.79 (TIE)
- Toya Hirata (JPN) – 25.79 (TIE)
- Jack Morrow (AUS) – 25.83
- Gustavo Zimmerman (BRA) – 25.88
- Nikolaos Papatheodorou (GRE) – 25.97
The boys 50 backstroke was a quick affair this morning, as it took under 26 seconds to advance to tonight’s semifinals. American Gavin Keogh led prelims this morning, clocking a 25.18. The performance marks a career best for Keogh by 0.01 seconds, clipping his previous best of 25.19, which he swam a couple weeks ago at US Junior Nationals.
The other American in the field, Kenneth Barnicle, came in 6th this morning with a 25.54. That swim is also a career best for Barnicle, chipping 0.08 seconds off his previous mark of 25.62.
NAB’s Georgii Iakovlev was right behind Keogh this morning, taking 2nd in 25.19. Iakovlev came into the morning as the top seed, holding a personal best of 24.55.
Australia’s Henry Allan rounded out the top 3 this morning, swimming a 25.22. Allan came into the meet as the 1 of 2 swimmers to have gone under 25 seconds, having gone as fast as 24.88.
GIRLS 100 BREASTSTROKE – PRELIMS
- World Record: 1:04.13 – Lilly King, USA (2017)
- World Junior Record: 1:04.35 – Ruta Meilutyte, LTU (2013)
- Championship Record: 1:06.23 – Eneli Jefimova, EST (2023)
TOP 16 QUALIFIERS:
- Lena Ludwig (GER) – 1:08.22
- Smilte Plytnykaite (LTU) – 1:08.46
- Hayley Mackinder (AUS) – 1:08.50
- Moon Sua (KOR) – 1:08.93
- Madyson Hartway (CAN) – 1:09.37
- Lily Koch (AUS) – 1:09.49
- Viktoriia Tarannikova (NAB) – 1:09.52
- Daria Asaftei (ROU) – 1:09.66
- Wui Man (HKG) – 1:09.66
- Monique Wieruszowski (NZL) – 1:09.69
- Mikayla Tan (SGP) – 1:09.87 (TIE)
- Elle Scott (USA) – 1:09.87 (TIE)
- Wang Yijing (CHN) – 1:09.89
- Pinar Donmez (TUR) – 1:09.94
- Hannah Schneider (GER) – 1:10.04
- Kayda Geyer (USA) – 1:10.10
Germany’s Lena Ludwig clocked the top time in the girls 100 breast this morning, swimming a 1:08.22. It was a stellar morning swim from Ludwig, who holds a personal best of 1:08.03.
Smilte Plytnykaite was 2nd this morning, swimming a 1:08.46. Plytnykaite has been as fast as 1:07.63 before.
Australian Hayley Mackinder rounded out the top 3, swimming a 1:08.50. Mackinder entered the meet as the top seed, coming in with a 1:07.61. She had the fastest back half in the field this morning, going 36.00 on the 2nd 50.
New Zealand’s Monique Wieruszowski was out the fastest of anyone this morning, splitting 31.80 on the opening 50. She paid for that opening speed a little bit, coming home in 37.89, which put her into the finish 10th overall with a 1:09.69.
BOYS 50 FREESTYLE – PRELIMS
- World Record: 20.91 – Cesar Cielo, BRA (2009)
- World Junior Record: 21.75 – Michael Andrew, USA (2017)
- Championship Record: 21.75 – Michael Andrew, USA (2017)
TOP 16 QUALIFIERS:
- Nikita Sheremet (UKR) – 21.82
- Jacob Mills (GBR) – 21.98
- Roman Zhidkov (NAB) – 22.16
- Abdul Adama (NGR) – 22.21
- Jan Foltyn (CZE) – 22.26
- Joshua Conias (AUS) – 22.34
- Oliver Moclair (AUS) – 22.41
- Albert Smelzer (USA) – 22.70 (TIE)
- Armand Landmann (RSA) – 22.70 (TIE)
- Yury Kuzmenko (USA) – 22.72
- Nicolas Gama (BRA) – 22.73
- Larus Thiel (GER) – 22.78
- Kaua Marinho (BRA) – 22.73
- Szymon Mroz (POL) – 22.94
- Javier Nunez (DOM) – 22.95
- Zaid Alsarraj (KSA) – 22.96 (TIE)
- Przemyslaw Pietron (POL) – 22.96 (TIE)
Ukraine’s Nikita Sheremet ripped a new career best to lead the field in the boys 50 free this morning. Sheremet swam a 21.82, blowing away the 22.16 he was entered with. His time this morning was just 0.07 seconds off the Championship Record of 21.75, which also stands as the World Junior Record in the event.
Great Britain’s Jacob Mills came in 2nd this morning with a 21.98. That swim comes in just 0.02 seconds off his personal best of 21.96.
Of note, Italy’s Carlos D’Ambrosio, who has been excellent so far at this meet, was DQ’d in this event this morning, though we don’t yet have information on what the DQ was for. D’Ambrosio won the gold medal in the 200 free last night.
Also of note, there was a tie for 16th this morning between Saudi Arabia’s Zaid Alsarraj and Poland’s Przemyslaw Pietron, both of whom stopped the clock in 22.96. There will be a swim-off later to determine who will advance to the semifinal tonight.
GIRLS 200 BACKSTROKE – PRELIMS
- World Record: 2:03.14 – Kaylee McKeown, AUS (2023)
- World Junior Record: 2:03.35 – Regan Smith, USA (2019)
- Championship Record: 2:07.45 – Regan Smith, USA (2017)
TOP 8 QUALIFIERS:
- Charlotte Crush (USA) – 2:08.08
- Audrey Derivaux (USA) – 2:08.29
- Madison Kryger (CAN) – 2:12.18
- Daria Zarubenkova (NAB) – 2:12.27
- Milana Stepanova (NAB) – 2:12.37
- Cecilia Dieleke (ARG) – 2:12.62
- Chiaki Yamamoto (JPN) – 2:13.05
- Zoe Ammundsen (AUS) – 2:13.07
The American duo of Charlotte Crush and Audrey Derivaux were dominant in the girls 200 back this morning, besting the rest of the field by 4 seconds. Crush clocked a 2:08.08, which is almost exactly a second off her personal best of 2:07.05. Derivaux was 2:08.29 this morning, but has a career best of 2:06.68. It’s worth noting that both girls’ personal bests are under the Championship Record of 2:07.45, so it seems there’s a decent chance that record goes down tonight. Additionally, both girls have already won individual gold this week, as Crush won the 100 back last night, while Derivaux won the 200 fly last night.
Canadian Madison Kryger was 3rd this morning with a 2:12.18. Kryger should have more in her for tonight, as her career best sits at 2:09.88.
MIXED 4×100 FREESTYLE RELAY – PRELIMS
- World Record: 3:18.48 – USA (2025)
- World Junior Record: 3:24.29 – AUS (2023)
- Championship Record: 3:24.29 – AUS (2023)
TOP 8 QUALIFIERS:
- USA – 3:28.50
- Great Britain – 3:28.64
- Italy – 3:29.59
- China – 3:29.91
- NAB – 3:30.39
- Canada – 3:30.72
- Japan – 3:31.97
- Australia – 3:32.14
The Americans led the field in the mixed 4×100 free relay this morning, securing the top seed for tonight with a 3:28.50. Luke Vatev and Austin Carpenter were the male swimmers on the team, going 1st and 2nd with times of 50.15 and 49.39 respectively. Liberty Clark and Julie Mishler were the USA’s female swimmers this morning, clocking splits of 54.36 and 54.60. The US should have 4 different legs tonight, so we can expect a considerably faster time in finals.
Great Britain was right behind the US this morning, swimming a 3:28.84. Gabriel Shepherd (49.39), Jacob Mills (48.30), Skye Carter (55.48), and Theodora Taylor (54.99) combined to get the job done, earning a middle lane for tonight’s final.
Italy was 3rd this morning with a 3:29.59. They’re primed to go quite a bit faster tonight, as Carlos D’Ambrosio will be on the relay. D’Ambrosio has been phenomenal this week, having split 47.02 on the anchor leg of Italy’s mixed 4×100 medley relay last night.
BOYS 800 FREESTYLE – SLOW HEATS (TIMED FINALS)
- World Record: 7:32.12 – Zhang Lin, CHN (2009)
- World Junior Record: 7:43.37 – Lorenzo Galossi, ITA (2022)
- Championship Record: 7:55.92 – Evan Pinion, USA (2011)
TOP 8:
The other swimming site is reporting that Richard Scarce has taken a position in Sydney so I guess Giuliani is on the move again.
I hear somewhere else that Max will follow him to Sydney.
Woohooo NSW will finally actually gain some swimmers .. we lost like 100 to Queensland lately haha
First saw the news on Instagram actually .. cam McEvoy’s old coach eh
Would be great to see swimming take off in NSW again! Athletes shouldn’t have to move so far from their support network to chase their dreams.
Is this the weakest Australian team at Worlds Junior?
It’s so much weaker than their team from 2011 to 2019.
With 2032 Brisbane Olympic coming up, you’d think they’re getting serious.
We outright won the 2013 and 2015 World Junior Championships and that got us a below-average result at Rio the year before *shrug*
I mean, we know what happened to Cate Campbell and Cam McEvoy. Also, they were not juniors in 2013 and 2015.
However, the 2013 (Mack Horton) and 2015 (Kyle Chalmers) individual gold medalists both won individual gold in Rio.
Australia won’t have individual gold medalist in this World Juniors. It’s not looking good for 2032 Olympic when most of current seniors won’t swim.
Mackinder and Allan still have chances. Plus it’s a fairly young team. And often this is just a stepping stone of international experience.
Class of 2023 will be late 20s by Brisbane. One weaker cohort is totally acceptable if class of 2027, 2029 and 2031 step up.
In the senior age group, you can pool athletes of a 12-year age range. These juniors are a 3-year age range group. These lots of room to make up in other cohorts and you can survive with gaps. With a small country such as Australia, gaps are to be expected. I’ll only get worried if this continues up to 2029.
And once again, juniors success is not indicative of seniors success. Swimmers can be developed after 18. Our best swimmers right now: Mollie, Kaylee and Ariarne only have 1 Juniors medal between them, that being… Read more »
Americans are so weak. I understand Phelps and Lochte.
Awwwww.. aren’t you just adorable.
BS. Americans here are so much stronger than any other country
This isn’t the strongest roster of juniors we could hypothetically send to the meet. As Braden said, it’s like the A.5 team. The swimmers that we do have are swimming really well.
Australia has surprisingly weakness in women’s 100m freestyle at this meet .. finishing 4th in their heat
It was already known after age champs so not really surprising.
We need to hold on a bit longer to Meg and Shayna
Meg (23) is considerably younger than Shayna (26).
Hope Meg plans to hang around until Brissie but I imagine Shayna will be done after LA.
We’re really gonna have to make the most of that strong 2006 age group because there’s quite a lull afterwards.
If I was Australian, I wouldn’t worry too much. The current excellent generation of Australian swimmers should see them very competitive for Los Angeles. And most of the Brisbane team are probably too young to be in Romania.
The junior window is very small and each junior championships is its own snapshot of a possible future. But my sense is that you have to stack multiple bad generations for it to ultimately change a swimming culture.
Thank you! This is what I’ve been trying to say every day here.
This year is very much a developing team for the men.
Yes.
Harris (2002), O’Callaghan (2004), deLutiis (2005), Wunsch (2006), Jansen (2006), barring the injury, should enough until 2032.
And Hannah Casey to further improve hopefully by 2028
Plus Casey (2006). Maybe Miller (2006) can develop a 100 too but so far she looks more likely to be a 200 specialist.
I think Macey Sheridan has potential by Brisbane
Love to see it. Huisman too.
will Huisman swim for Aus? I imagine she may represent the Netherlands internationally given both her parents are Dutch?
No idea tbh. We’ll just have to wait and see.
Huisman back overseas I believe
Already?
Oh I see the father has taken a job back in Netherlands? So that answer that question.
They were here for 8-9yrs…
Would love to see them back one day 😊
I’m still shaking my head at the waste of Yolane Kukla ! She was phenomenal back in the day but didn’t become more than she promised us in terms of her young progression
Why did D’Ambrosio get DSQ-ed in the 50 free? False start?
Has been reinstated looking at the latest results on Omega. So the swim off will be for the 1st alternate spot, rather than 16th place into semi.
Has to be.
Most boring session of the meet so far.
50s are so boring, man.
according to a Hungarian. 😆
Just kidding but I kind of agree.
Yeah we aren’t known for our 50s lol. Least amount of comments though so far in any session, so it seems I’m right anyway.
Recast still has no replay of the finals session from last night. Hopeless
youtube.com/@tvasahi_sports/streams has day2 finals (need VPN)
I found it over at Eurovision Sport this morning but still not good enough from Recast.
I emailed them. No reply as yet.
Also fast forwarding has not improved to find a certain race. They wonder why we are sick and tired of them.