Ivan Girev, Regan Smith Break World Junior Records on Night Two of 2017 FINA World Junior Championships

by Diana Pimer

24 August 2017, 02:22pm

Night two of the 2017 FINA World Junior Championships in Indianapolis will be packed full of action featuring nine finals and two semifinals.

Among the swimmers to watch are Italy’s Nicolo Martinenghi, who will be looking to re-break his own World Junior Record from the semifinals in the 100 breast, and Canada’s Taylor Ruck, who did likewise in the 100 backstroke.

USA’s Regan Smith will also be in the mix in the 100 back, while teammates Reece Whitley and Michael Andrew will fight for their spots on the podium in the breaststroke. Andrew will then pair up with Kieran Smith to tackle the 200 IM final.

The battle for gold in the women’s breaststroke event should be between Ireland’s Mona McSharry who came in under 31 seconds, and USA’s Emily Weiss, who dipped under in the prelims here in Indy.

Russia’s Ivan Girev comes in as the leader int he 200 free, while Japan’s Suzuka Hasegawa holds the top time in the 200 fly. Additionally, Spain’s Hugo Gonzalez will open up the night with a shot at the meet record in the 100 backstroke, as his semifinals time was just .13 seconds off the mark.

To cap off the evening, USA and Canada will face off in the Mixed 400 Medley Relay. Canada holds the top seed after breaking the World Junior Record in the Women’s 800 Freestyle Relay last night.

FULL DAY 2 FINALS RESULTS CAN BE FOUND HERE

Schedule of Events:

• Men’s 100 Backstroke (Final)
• Women’s 200 Butterfly (Final)
• Men’s 200 Freestyle (Final)
• Women’s 50 Breaststroke (Final)
• Men’s 100 Butterfly (Semifinal)
• Women’s 100 Freestyle (Semifinal)
• Men’s 100 Breaststroke (Final)
• Women’s 100 Backstroke (Final)
• Men’s 200 IM (Final)
• Women’s 800 Freestyle (Final)
• Mixed 400 Medley Relay (Final)

Men’s 100 Backstroke

Spain’s Hugo Gonzalez started things off with a bang on night two by breaking the Meet Record in the 100 back. While he split 26.51-27.92 in his semifinals swim where he was just off, Gonzalez came home in 27.62 this time around, giving him the edge. His final time of 54.27 was enough to better the previous record set in 2015 by .03 seconds.

Ireland’s Conor Ferguson and Romania’s Daniel Martin had incredible performances of their own, finishing in 54.51 and 54.55 to earn the silver and bronze medals. Ferguson was also home under 28 seconds, while Martin was first to the wall at the fifty in 26.18.

USA’s Drew Kibler also dipped under the 55-second mark, finishing fourth in 54.97. This was his first time the American has broken this barrier.

Poland’s Kacper Stokowski (55.04), USA’s Nicolas Albiero (55.29), Great Britain’s Nicholas Pyle (55.38) and Russia’s Nikita Tretyakov (55.57) rounded out the heat.

Women’s 200 Butterfly

Emily Large of Great Britain swam a consistent 200 back for the gold with a final time of 2:07.74. She was out the fastest in the field at 1:00.96, which gave her the edge over some of her charging competitors in the back half. This was over a full second drop from Large’s previous best time.

Japan’s Suzuka Hasegawa came in for the silver medal at 2:08.29, exactly two seconds off her lifetime best. She was almost two seconds faster than her morning swim, but ran out of room to chase down Large this time around. Large’s teammate Keanna Macinnes earned the bronze medal in 2:09.64, her first time breaking 2:10.

Canada’s Mabel Zavaros accomplished the same feat, coming in fourth in 2:09.79. She was followed by Germany’s Julia Mrozinski (2:11.18), China’s Huiyan Ye (2:11.86), Canada’s Victoria Kwan (2:12.48) and Hungary’s Boglarka Bonecz (2:12.50).

Men’s 200 Freestyle

Russia’s Ivan Girev led a trio of men under the previous World Junior Record in the 200 free final. Ivan dropped over half a second off his previous lifetime best of 1:47.65 to get his hand on the wall first for the win and record in 1:46.40. Hungary’s Nandor Nemeth came in at 1:46.79 for silver while Australia’s Elijah Winnington earned the bronze in 1:46.81.

It was Winnington who had the lead at the 50 and 100 meter marks, going out in 25.01 and 52.20. But both Girev and Nemeth split 27.03 on the third fifty to Winnington’s 27.54, surging them back into the mix. Nemeth actually had the fastest closing split of 26.66, but he ran out of room as Girev took the win.

American duo Patrick Callan (1:47.61) and Trey Freeman III (1:47.79) came in fourth and fifth, with both men setting lifetime bests in the process. Hungary’s Richard Marton (1:48.77), Great Britain’s Elliot Clogg (1:49.02) and Brazil’s Breno Correia (1::49.73) placed sixth through eighth.

Women’s 50 Breaststroke

USA’s Emily Weiss got her hands on the wall first in the 50 breast, blasting a huge lifetime best of 30.78. Coming into the meet, she had never broken 31 seconds before. Canada’s Faith Knelson and Ireland’s Mona McSharry also came in under 31, finishing in 30.91 and 30.97, respectively. This was Knelson’s first time in the 30-second range.

Weiss’ teammate Zoe Bartel led the rest of the swimmers, coming in fourth with a lifetime best of 31.28. Poland’s Weronkia Hallmann (31.50), Lithuania’s Agne Seleikaite (32.10), Australia’s Chelsea Hodges (32.12) and Turkey’s Gulsen Samanci (32.25) rounded out the Championship heat.

Men’s 100 Butterfly

Despite it being a semifinal, Russia’s Andrei Minakov wanted a part in the meet record action as well. His 52.23 100 fly semi swim bettered the previous meet record by .05. It was set in 2015. Not the fastest home, Minakov’s opening speed gave him clear water, and a paved path to the win out of heat one.

Japan’s Shinnosuke Ishikawa was behind him in the heat with a 52.82, followed by Jordan Brunt of Australia (52.85), Umitcan Gures of Turkey (52.86) and Jan Friese of Germany (52.92).

Hungary’s Kristof Milak won the second heat for the second overall seed in 52.61. He will be Minakov’s biggest challenger in tomorrow’s final as he come home in a quick 27.67. Russia’s Egor Kuimov was the only other swimmer out of the second semi to qualify in the top eight (53.08).

Women’s 100 Freestyle

Japan’s Rikako Ikee led the way in the 100 free semis, racing a 54.06 for the top seed out of heat two. She had the fastest closing fifty at 27.34. Great Britain’s Freya Anderson took the second spot of the same heat in 54.31.

Canadian duo Kayla Sanchez (54.62) and Rebecca Smith (54.73) claimed the next two spots, one from each semifinal heat. Smith had the best opening speed, flipping at 26.33. Czech Republic’s Barbora Seemanova narowly edged out American Grace Ariola 55.07 to 55.08 to earn the fifth seed.

Russia’s Vasilissa Buinaia and Japan’s Sayuki Ouchi tied for the seventh and final spot in the Championship heat in 55.14.

Men’s 100 Breaststroke

Italy’s Nicolo Martinenghi swam to gold in the 100 breast, racing just off his best from the semifinals. His 59.01 from earlier in the meet still stands as the World Junior Record. Comparatively, Martinenghi split 27.48-31.53 in the heats, while he split 27.54-32.04 in the final.

American powerhouse duo Reece Whitley and Michael Andrew claimed the remaining two podium spots in 1:00.08 and 1:00.37, respectively with the former being a lifetime best swim. Andrew was also out under 28, but could not hold off a 31.68 back fifty from Whitley, the fastest in the field.

Russia’s Evgenii Somov broke 1:01 for the first time, finishing fourth in 1:00.93. Italy’s Alessandro Pinzuti also scored a lifetime best in 1:01.01.

Australia’s Zac Stubblety-Cook (1:01.14), Germany’s Wassili Kuhn (1:01.23) and South Africa’s Michael Houlie (1:02.06) rounded out the heat.

Women’s 100 Backstroke

While Canada’s Taylor Ruck broke the World Junior Record in this event in the semifinals, USA’s 15-year-old Regan Smith stole it back this evening with a blistering 59.11. Smith was out about two tenths faster than her semis swim, making the difference in this race. Not only was this good enough for the WJR, but also the USA Swimming 15-16 National Age Group Record, formerly held by Missy Franklin at 59.18.

Ruck came in at 59.23 for a lifetime best, followed by teammate Jade Hannah in 59.62. This was Hannah’s first time under the 1:00 barrier, as it also was for Natsumi Sakai of Japan (59.91). Russia’s Polina Egorova finished between them in 59.75.

USA’s Grace Ariola took the sixth spot in 1:00.58, and was followed by a pair of women from Great Britain. Cassie Wild took seventh in 1:00.73 and Anna Maine was eighth in 1:01.44.

Men’s 200 IM

Germany’s Johannes Hintze efforts’ led to yet another meet record on night two in Indy. His breaststroke split of 34.39 gave him the upper hand against USA’s Kieran Smith and Hungary’s Marton Barta. Smith had the lead at the 100, but could not hold off Hintze in the back half.

Even with the silver, this was Smith’s first time under the 2:00 barrier in this event, as he was only one tenth off the previous meet record as well. Barta finished in 2:00.14, breaking 2:01 for the first time. Spain’s Hugo Gonzalez was back in the pool tonight to pick up fourth place with a 2:00.61.

Brazil’s Caio Pumputis (2:00.97), Italy’s Alberto Razzetti (2:02.89), China’s Ziqi Deng (2:04.43) and USA’s Michael Andrew (2:07.27) placed fifth through eighth.

Women’s 800 Free

Argentina’s Delfina Pignatiello set her country’s National Record in the 800 freestyle with a lifetime best of 8:25.22. The former record stood at 8:33.17. She also broke the Meet Record in this event, set in 2015. Pignatiello truly started to dominate the race around the 300-meter mark.

Hungary’s Ajna Kesely also set a personal best of 8:30.62. Spain’s Beatriz Cons Gestido Agueda was looking for the come-from-behind silver, but could not quite get it done in the end, earning the bronze in 8:30.85. She out-split Kesely on the back 200 in a fight for the podium spot.

Anastasiia Kirpichnikova of Russia was not far behind in 8:31.12, as was Italy’s Giulia Salin in 8:32.11. Japan’s Waka Kobori (8:35.64), Italy’s Giorgia Romei (8:36.91) and USA’s Erica Sullivan (8:39.20) rounded out the top eight finishers.

Mixed 400 Medley Relay

A handful of notable splits came out of the mixed medley relays this evening. Canada ultimately won the gold between the quartet of Taylor Ruck, Gabe Mastromatteo, Penny Oleksiak and Rusian Gaziev. USA’s Regan Smith, Reece Whitley, Nicolas Albiero and Grace Ariola were close behind in 3:46.80.

Smith led off the race in a blazing 58.95 100 back, .16 faster than her meet record performance earlier in the night. Whitley then dipped under the 1:00 mark on the breaststroke leg, but Canada’s Oleksiak made a huge difference in the fly leg. Her 56.98 split put Gaziev in striking distance of Ariola.

Russia rounded out the podium in 3:48.32 between Polina Egorova, Evengii Somov, Egor Kuimov and Vasillissa Buinaia.

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Michael Maloney

6 years ago

OHHHH the HYPE WHITLEY the next Michael Phelps….best swimmer in years …..cant even win a race at what 18…..please stop writing and wishing until athletes actually do something great…

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