Rosie Rudin Takes Down Championship Record In 400m IM

Rosie Rudin of Great Britain broke the championship record in the women’s 400m IM final Tuesday night en route to a gold medal and a 1-2 British finish.

Rudin touched in at 4:39.01 in order to become the first female swimmer ever under 4:40 at a Junior World Championships, breaking American Ella Eastin’s 2013 mark of 4:40.02.

The time for Rudin also breaks the official junior world record recognized by FINA which also stands at 4:40.02 from Eastin’s 2013 swim. Swimswam recognizes the junior world record as a 4:35.69 done by Zhou Min of China in 2014.

After the butterfly leg Rudin was in last, however she picked things up and moved right into first after the first 50-meters of backstroke. She stayed in first for the remainder of the race, holding off her teammate Georgia Coates.

Coates managed to touch in for the silver medal with a 4:39.94. She had Africa Zamorano of Spain right on her tail who rounded out the top three with a 4:40.15 performance.

With only two finals completed thus far in the competition, the 1-2 finish puts Great Britain at the top of the medal standings in swimming.

Only China, the United States, and Spain have earned medals thus far. China is the only other country to have won multiple medals, doing so with a silver and a bronze.