Tajus Juska Rips 22.34 50 Freestyle to Become Fastest 15-Year-Old Ever

2024 EUROPEAN JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, July 2nd – Sunday, July 7th
• Prelims at 9:30am local/Finals at 6pm local
• Lazdynai Pool, Vilnius, Lithuania
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
• Entries
• Day 1 Prelims Recap/Day 1 Finals Recap
• Day 2 Prelims Recap/Day 2 Finals Recap
• Day 3 Finals Recap
• Day 4 Prelims Recap/Day 4 Finals Recap
• Live Results
• Livestream ($)

Lithuanian sprinter Tajus Juska captured the bronze medal in the 50-meter freestyle at the 2024 European Championships, clocking a lifetime best of 22.34 that appears to make him the fastest 15-year-old ever in the event.

Juska came into the meet with a personal-best 22.84 from February before lowering that mark to 22.58 in Thursday’s semifinals. His new lifetime best ranks him as one of the fastest 15-16 boys in history at just 15 years old, just a hundredth of a second away from world junior record holder Michael Andrew‘s U.S. boys 15-16 national age group (NAG) standard from 2016. Juska is also faster than reigning Olympic champion Caeleb Dressel was at his age (22.39 in 2013).

Fastest 15-16 100 Freestylers Ever

1. David Popovici (ROU) – 22.22, 2021
2. Michael Andrew (USA) / Kyle Chalmers (AUS) – 22.33, 2016/2015
3. –
4. Tajus Juska (LTU) – 22.34, 2024
5. Caeleb Dressel (USA) – 22.39, 2013

Juska now seems to be more than two-tenths quicker than the next-fastest 15-year-old of all time, European junior record holder Artem Selin of Germany. It’s tough to track all international age records, so let us know if we missed any swims in the comments.

Fastest 15-Year-Old 100 Freestylers Ever

1. Tajus Juska (LTU) – 22.34, 2024
2. Artem Selin (GER) – 22.60, 2018
3. Vladyslav Bukhov (UKR) – 22.75, 2018
4. Federico Burdisso (ITA) – 22.79, 2018
5. Michael Andrew (USA) – 22.82, 2014

Juska is already closing in on the overall Lithuanian record of 21.70 set by Simonas Bilis in 2018.

• Related: Juska Becomes One of the Fastest 14-Year-Old 100 Freestylers Ever (50.52)

BOYS 50 FREESTYLE – FINAL

• World Junior Record: 21.75, Michael Andrew (2017)
• European Junior Record: 21.83, Artem Selin (2019)
• European Record: 20.94, Frederick Bousquet (2009)
• Championship Record: 21.83, Artem Selin (2019)
• 2022 European Junior Champion: Lorenzo Ballarati (Italy) – 22.56

PODIUM:

• Gold: Lorenzo Ballarati (ITA) – 22.20
• Silver: Luca Hoek le Guenedal (ESP) – 22.33
• Bronze: Tajus Juska (LTU) – 22.34

Italy’s Lorenzo Ballarati claimed the boys 50 free crown in 22.20, dropping .18 seconds off his previous-best 22.37 from Thursday’s semifinals. Before this meet, his best time stood at 22.38 from last year’s World Junior Championships, where he ultimately won bronze.

Spain’s Luca Hoek le Guenedal eked past Juska by the slimmest of margins in a tight battle for the silver medal. Hoek le Guenedal dropped a few tenths off his previous-best 22.63 from last month while Juska lowered his previous-best 22.58 from Thursday’s semifinals.