Only one session in, and the records are falling like crazy at the third edition of the FINA Youth World Championships. Remember that this meet was last swum in 2008, when the suits were only made in part of the polyurethane that destroyed most record books, so the times are by no means insurmountable. In total, in only the preliminaries, three Championship Records were broken this morning in Lima, Peru: two by the Japanese, one by Australia, and one by an American relay.
In the girls 400 IM prelim, Miyu Otsuka took the top seed in 4:43.29. That clears the old mark held by Dagny Knutson of the United States in 4:43.49. Though she was strong throughout, Otsuka took command of the prelims in this race on the breaststroke, much like we saw from her collegian counterparts at the Universiade final that was happening almost simultaneously.
Australia’s Cameron McEvoy, who at only 17 is already drawing comparisons to a young James Magnussen, broke the Meet Record in the 400 free relay with his leadoff split of 49.57. No swimmer previously had ever been under 50 seconds in this meet. That swim ties him for 77th in the world, and something tells me we haven’t heard the last out of this youngster in this meet.
The other individual record on the day went to Otsuka’s country-mate Akihiro Yamaguchi in, no surprise, the boys 100 breaststroke. He marked a 1:02.00 to take the top seed, which bettered the old mark set by Great Britain’s Daniel Sliwinski in 2008.
The American women’s 800 free relay also broke the Meet Record to take the top seed in 8:03.38 (more than 6 seconds faster than Australia’s 2nd-ranked relay). The old mark was held by the 2008 American squad of Samantha Tucker, Lily Moldenhauer, Dagny Knutson, and Liz Pelton in 8:04.49. The quartet in 2011 includes Julia Anderson, Haley Lips, Rachel Zilinskas, and Chelsea Chenault. Anderson, out of Fort Worth, lead off in a 1:59.87. That’s not her best time, but it’s within a tenth of Knutson’s meet record in that distance as well.
Other prelims 1 results:
- Evan Pinion (USA) took the top seed in the boys 400 free in 3:52.65, though he’ll have a superb battle with 16-year old Andrea D’Arrigo of Italy (3:52.69) in finals. D’Arrigo negative-split his 400.
- Fabio Lugeni took top honors in the first of three rounds in the boys 100 back in 55.37, followed closely by Jacob Pebley of the US (55.69) and Joshua Beaver of Australia (55.86). U.S. 15-16 Record holder Jack Conger sits 4th in 56.00.
- The Ukraine’s Daryna Zevina, no surprise, took the top seed in the girls 100 back in 1:01.46, which missed Liz Pelton’s meet record by only .05. Nobody else in the field was under 1:02, with the United State’s Olivia Smoliga as the 3rd seed in 1:02.05
- The United States’ Sarah Haase, who is a teammate of Conger’s at the Rockville-Maryland Swim Club, took top honors in the girls 50 breaststroke in 31.75. That puts her in the top 40 in the world. Lisa Fissneider of Italy is 2nd in 32.16.
- In the other relay, the boys 400 free, Canada took the top spot in 3:23.29 with a group of Luke Peddie, Alex Page, Evan van Moerkerke, and Omar Arafa. The US sits second in 3:23.50, with Brazil 3rd. Austrlaia, featuring McEvoy’s record-setting leadoff, barely snuck into the finals as the 8th seed.
Remember that this FINA meet is prelims-semis-finals for all races 100m and shorter, so the only finals tonight will be the boys 400 free, the girls 400 IM, and the two relays.
Full results from the 2011 FINA Youth World Championships can be viewed here.
Hey guys -if you were a college age kid & got on one of these trips to Uni games -would you really care about the stupid competition .It is Pheramone Paradise. All those fit bods from far flung lands with hopefully a smidgeon of education /intelligence.
I’ve known a few attendees & it is Partee Partee Partee.
Especially if you are paying for it.
Lighten up.
Great morning session for the Brazilian guys, hope they keep it up tonight.
Actually only the 50s and 100s are prelim-semi-final. The 200s and longer are prelim-finals.
BK- what do you think the order for the womens 4×200 relay will be tonight? You gotta believe they will throw lia neal in there considering her 1:58.2 last week. But then again they might not because they clearly dont need her to win. In my opinion it should be chenault-neal-ryan-anderson (in any particular order).
I think they’ll definitely put the fastest relay out there, regardless of the margin in prelims. Historically at this meet, relays have dropped upwards of 8 seconds in finals, though the Americans seemed pretty close to maxed out on time in prelims, so I don’t think the win will necessarily be as comfortable in finals, though they’re still the favorites.
I’d almost lead Neal off, because she’s so explosive from a flat-start. I think you waste that a bit if you swim her 2nd (plus it gives her an opportunity at a meet record that she won’t get in the individual). But I think you’ve got the right 4. I’d go Neal, Chenault, Ryan, Anderson.