Pan Pacs Day 2: Gabe Mastromatteo is Canada’s Next Great Breaststroker

2018 JR. PAN PACIFIC SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• August 23rd-26th, 2018
• Suva, Fiji
• Live Results/Psychs
• USA Swimming Meet Landing Page (with daily heat sheets)
• Full Meet Information and Schedule Document
• Live Stream (free, open)

After the U.S. won all-but-two events on day 1 of the 2018 Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, day 2 should be more of the same, as the Americans have the top seeds in all but 1 of the day’s 6 individual events.

The exception is the boys’ 100 breaststroke, where 16-year old Gabe Mastromatteo, the fastest age grouper in Canadian history in the event, comes in seeded at 1:01.33. A better 100 than 200 breaststroker, Mastromatteo was 9th in the semi-finals of this event at last year’s World Championships. At only 16, he’s already Canada’s 2nd-best male 100 breaststroker, behind only Richard Funk.

He leads a diverse field in that race that includes Daniel Roy of the USA and Yamato Fukasawa of Japan also seeded at better than 1:02.

Other Day 2 Storylines to Watch:

• 15-year old Gretchen Walsh, who made the A-final in the 50 and 100 free at US Nationals in July, finished 12th overall in the 200 free on Thursday, but still beat her seed time twice. That bodes well for the 100 free on Friday, where she’s the top seed in 54.38 over countrymates Lucie Nordmann (55.08) and Isabel Ivey (55.10) by seven-tenths of a second. She’s got 7-tenths of a second to drop to get Missy Franklin‘s National Age Group Record in the event (she doesn’t age up until January, so no hurry there). She’s already the fastest American 15-year old in history, but a few numbers to chase include Missy Franklin‘s 54.03 from when she was 14, Taylor Ruck‘s 53.92 from when she was 15 and competing in the US, and Penny Oleksiak‘s 53.31 as the fastest North American time in the race by a 15-year old.
• Japan has had only about 40 swimmers go faster than 50 seconds in the 100 free in the last decade. That’s as compared to about 100 Americans, the defending World Champions in the 400 free relay in the same time period. But Japan’s sprinting is trending upward, including a new National Record of 47.87 from Katsumi Nakamura in February. Another young swimmer that could join him on a potential 2020 Olympic relay is 18-year old Keisuke Ishizaki, who has been 49.88 already this year.