World Junior Record Watch: 2023 World Junior Championships

Looking at the entries for this year’s meet, there are plenty of opportunities for the young superstars of the world to showcase their talent and vie for both medals and World Junior Records (WJRs). Despite absences from big names like Summer McIntosh and Dong Zhihao— who both set new World Junior Records in the women’s 200 Freestyle/200 Butterfly and the Men’s 200 Breaststroke at World Championships this year— it’s likely we’ll see more records go down in the coming week. 

Judged on a mix of raw time differences, percent differences, and other factors including competition and historical performances, here are the records we think could fall in Israel.

Men’s 400/800 Freestyle

Bulgaria’s Petar Mitsin is the only current WJR holder competing in this year’s championships. The 18-year-old boasts an impressive lineup for this meet, as the top seed in the 400 and 800 freestyles, the second seed in the 200 butterfly and 200 freestyle, and he’s also entered in the 100 butterfly. He’s likely to win both the 400 (in which he holds the current World-Aquatics-approved WJR of 3:44.31) and the 800, and a World Junior Record is possible in each. Lorenzo Galossi’s record of 7:43.37 (set at European Championships in 2022) is 4 seconds faster than Mitsin’s seed time, but when Mitsin is pushed by the likes of Romania’s Vlad Stancu and Turkey’s Kuzey Tuncelli, the WJR could be in jeopardy.

Women’s 100 Butterfly

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s star Lana Pudar barely missed out on finals in this event in Fukuoka. If she can shave half a second off her best time of 56.96, she has a shot at taking down the current WJR of 56.43 set by Claire Curzan at the TAC Spring Invitational in 2021. Just a second off of Pudar’s best, the United States’ Leah Shackley could provide some competition for the Bosnian European Championships bronze medalist.

Men’s 200 Backstroke

Kliment Kolesnikov currently holds the WJR in the 50, 100, and 200 backstrokes. His time of 1:55.14, set at Worlds in 2017, is only 0.65 seconds faster than Oleksandr Zheltiakov ’s Euro-Juniors-winning time of 1:55.79. The Ukrainian is seeded within the top 3 in each backstroke event. Zheltiakov will be pushed by Daniel Diehl from the United States, whose seed time of 1:56.04— also less than a second off of Kolesnikov’s record— could make this a very exciting (possibly record-breaking) race to watch.

Women’s 50 Backstroke

Minna Atherton’s longstanding record of 27.49, set at the Brisbane Sprint Champs in January 2016 will be challenged by fellow Australians Jaclyn Barclay and Iona Anderson. Barclay’s time of 27.94 tops the psych sheets, while Anderson’s time of 28.03 is not far behind. A breakout meet is well within reach for either swimmer, as they’re both seeded in the top 3 of the 50 and 100 backstrokes, with Barclay also seeded fifth in the 200. 

Men’s 200 IM

With two swimmers going 1:58s this year in the USA’s top-seeded Maximus Williamson and Japan’s Tomoyuki Matsushita, Hubert Kos’s 1:56.99 could be in danger. Rising star Williamson is 1.66 seconds away from Kos’s record, which was set at the European Champs in 2021. 

Men’s 100 Backstroke

As mentioned earlier, Russia’s Kliment Kolesnikov is the WJR holder in the 100 backstroke with a 52.53, set at the European Champs in 2018. Daniel Diehl looks to challenge this record, coming in with a seed time of 53.07. The NC State commit tied for third in the 200 backstroke and won the B final in the 100 backstroke at the Phillips 66 National Championships in July, and if he can continue his upward trajectory, he’ll be a force to be reckoned with in the future. 

For the full list of events and the differences between the top seeds and the current WJRs, see the table below.