Speedo Performance of the Week, Presented by Pace Club: August 27, 2013

PHOENIX, Arizona, August 27. NINE gold-medal races took place today in Dubai at the world junior swimming championships, and the event that stood out the most was the boys 200 IM. Four swimmers broke the 2:00 barrier in the final, which was won by 17-year-old Gunnar Bentz of the United States with a 1:59.44. It was his first time under two minutes, which had to make the gold medal even more thrilling.

Placing second and third were Semen Makovich of Russia and Japan’s Keita Sunama. Both of them had been under two minutes earlier this year, and swam a little bit faster today. Coming in fourth was American Andrew Seliskar, who got under 2:00 for the first time today, and he did it not once, but twice. He swam a 1:59.91 in prelims then 1:59.84 in finals. That was the first time a 16-year-old American had broken two minutes, making it a national age group record.

We’re going to see a lot of swims that portend great things for a lot of swimmers at this meet, but so far, this event showed us the most amount of talent and what could come in the 200 IM not just in the next three years, but on the road to the 2020 Olympics as well.

So congratulations to the top four finishers of the boys’ 200 IM at the world junior swimming championships. You’ve won our Speedo Performance of the Week.

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