The inaugaral Youth Olympic Games are underway in Singapore, and one set of medals has been given out so far, in the boys 400 free.
China’s Jun Dai won the gold in a time of 3:50.91, with budding superstar Chad le Clos of South Africa finishing a second back for the silver. Cristian Quintero finished in third place. These three young men are the first ever swimming medalists at the Youth Olympic Games, and honor that will last forever.
No Americans swam in this final, but the 8-strong crew USA-Swimming sent is sure to bring home plenty of hardware.
In other finals on Day 1 of competition, Kaitlyn Jones won the women’s 200 IM in 2:14.53 for America’s first medal. Kristina Kochetkova of Russia was second, and Barbora Zavadova was third.
In the first relay, and a very interesting one at that, the mixed gender 400 free relay was won by the Chinese squad, with the Australians second and the French third. The American relay finished 6th. This is one of the many innovative events that is being experimented with at the YOG’s, and I personally love the idea.
The second day of finals will include the men’s 100 back and 200 free, and the women’s 200 fly and 50 breast finals.
To see more details about the swimmers that the USA sent to the Youth Olympic Games, check out our roster breakdown.
Go to the official Singapore 2010 website for full event results, including heats. Click on the link, then look for “Sports S-Z” to see swimming results.
