Seven Records Broken on Night Five of 2017 FINA World Junior Championships

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

Capped off by an amazing World Junior record-breaking relay by Team Canada, day five finals of the 2017 FINA World Junior Championships in Indianapolis were full of broken World and championship records, ties, and tight races.

Five World Junior championship records and two World Junior records were broken this evening. Argentina’s Delfina Pignatiello in the 1500, Rikee Ikako in the 100 fly and 50 free, Nicolo Martinenghi in the 50 breaststroke, and Hugo Gonzalez in the 400 IM all set championship records.

World Junior records were set by the Canadian women in the 4×100 freestyle relay, and Michael Andrew in the men’s 50 fly semifinals.

Canada’s Jade Hannah and Japan’s Natsumi Sakai tied for the gold medal in the women’s 50-meter backstroke, while Martinenghi and a hyped-up Andrew will be battling it out in the finals of the men’s 50-meter breaststroke tomorrow.

Overall, Team USA pocketed two more individual medals and one relay medal over the course of the session.

Schedule of Events:

Women’s 1500m freestyle finals
Men’s 100m freestyle semi-finals
Women’s 100m butterfly semi-finals
Men’s 50m butterfly finals
Women’s 50m freestyle semi-finals
Men’s 50m breaststroke semi-finals
Women’s 50m backstroke finals
Men’s 400m IM finals
Women’s 4x100m freestyle relay finals

Women’s 1500 Free Finals

The evening kicked off with the top heat of the women’s 1500-meter freestyle. Argentina’s Delfina Pignatiello was the only athlete under 16:00.00, setting a championship record. Her time of 15:59.51 was good for the gold medal, ahead of 400-meter champion Anja Kesely of Hungary. Kesely stopped the clock in 16:15.68 for silver.

Third atop the podium was Spain’s Agueda Beatriz Cons Gestido in 16:17.84, pulling ahead of Team USA’s top seed Erica Sullivan in the final 200 meters. Sullivan just missed out on a medal, finishing in 16:20.12 for fourth place.

Fifth place went to Russia’s Anastasiia Kirpichnikova in 16:22.96, while Italy’s Giulia Salin finished sixth in 16:27.06.

Rounding out the top eight finishers were Japan’s Waka Kobori (16:31.37) and Australia’s Lani Pallister (16:32.59).

womens-1500-final-world-juniors

womens-1500-final-world-juniors-2

Men’s 100 Free Semi-Finals

Ivan Girev of Russia topped the field in the men’s 100-meter freestyle semi-finals, sprinting to a 48.83 to qualify first heading into finals of the event. Hungary’s ace Nandor Nemeth grabbed the second seed with his time of 49.14, while Brazil’s Breno Correia touched third in 49.33.

Americans Matthew Willenbring and Daniel Krueger finished fourth and fifth, respectively. Willenbring’s time of 49.36 was over a second faster than his prelims time, while Krueger dropped over half a second. The teammates will be looking to medal in the event tomorrow at finals.

France’s Maxime Grousset qualified in sixth place with his time of 49.77, while Brazil’s Lucas Peixoto was close behind in 49.79 for seventh.

Rounding out the final heat will be Australia’s Jordan Brunt, whose time of 49.85 was good for eighth seed.

mens-100-freestyle-finals-world-juniors

Women’s 100 Fly Semi-Finals

New 50-meter fly World Junior record holder Rikee Ikako of Japan flew to first seed and a new championship record in the semi-finals of the women’s 100-meter butterfly, stopping the clock in 58.11. Canada’s Rebecca Smith sits in second place heading into finals with her time of 58.79.

Ikako’s teammate Suzuka Hasegawa sprinted to a time of 59.19 for third place in the final heat, while Great Britain’s Emily Large holds fourth seed with her time of 59.25. Russia’s Polina Egorova and Sweden’s Sara Juvenik tied for fifth place in the semi-final with their time of 59.26.

Team USA’s backstroke champion Regan Smith snuck into the championship final of the 100 butterfly with her time of 59.30, a 0.30 drop from prelims. Sitting in eighth place is Canada’s Mabel Zavaros, with her time of 59.36.

womens-semifinals-100-fly-world-juniors

Men’s 50 Fly Finals

Michael Andrew continues to excel, lowering his third new World Junior record of the meet from his 23.27 swam yesterday at semi-finals to a 23.22 for the gold medal in the men’s 50-meter butterfly finals. Russia’s Andrei Minakov claimed the silver medal with his time of 23.53, while 100-meter champion Kristof Milak sprinted to a 23.72 for bronze.

Kazakhstan’s Adilbek Mussin placed fourth in the championship final with his time of 23.83, while Turkey’s Umitcan Gures claimed fifth place in 23.90.

The next athlete to touch the wall was Luca Armbruster of Germany in 24.07, followed by Egypt’s Abdelrahman Sameh in 24.16 for seventh. Eighth place went to Egor Kuimov of Russia with his time of 24.23.

mens-50-fly-finals-world-juniors

Women’s 50 Free Semi-Finals

World Junior-record holder Ikee continued her dominance in the sprint events during the semi-finals of the women’s 50-meter freestyle, stopping the clock in a new championship record-time of 24.74. She will surely be looking to lower her personal best and World Junior record of 24.48 during finals of the event tomorrow.

Team USA captain Grace Ariola was close behind Ikee in a quick swim of 24.87 for second-place heading into finals, and will pose a threat to Ikee in the final. Sayuki Ouchi of Japan touched third in 25.14.

Fourth place heading into finals went to Julie Kepp Jensen of Denmark with her time of 25.31, while Czechoslovakia’s Barbora Seemanova touched next in 25.34. Canada’s Kayla Noelle Sanchez nabbed sixth seed in 25.35.

Rounding out the final heat will be seventh-place Angelina Kohler of Germany (25.45) and eighth-place Freya Anderson (25.51), championship record-holder in the 100-meter freestyle from Great Britain.

womens-50-free-semis-world-junior

Men’s 50 Breast Semi-Finals

Italy’s Nicolo Martinenghi finally dethroned the seemingly unbeatable Andrew during the semi-finals of the men’s 50-meter breaststroke, lowering his own championship record of 27.21 to a 27.02, just 0.05 off his own World Junior record in the event. Andrew was a close second, touching in 27.61. The two will battle it out in finals tomorrow – it’s likely the World Junior record will be lowered, but by whom?

Third place heading into finals went to Alessandro Pinzuti of Italy with his 27.65, while Russia’s Vladislav Gerasimenko touched fourth in 27.87. Team USA’s Reece Whitley will be looking for a spot on the podium tomorrow, as he sits in fifth with his time of 28.02.

Michael Houlie of South Africa sits in sixth heading into the finals with his time of 28.11, while Philipp Andre Brandt of Germany (28.15) and Canada’s Gabe Mastromatteo (28.30) round out the final heat in seventh and eighth, respectively.

mens-50-breaststroke-semis-world-juniors

Women’s 50 Back Finals

Canada’s Jade Hannah and Japan’s Natsumi Sakai tied for the gold medal in an exciting final heat of the women’s 50-meter backstroke, both touching in exactly 27.93. They will share the podium, while Team USA’s Ariola touched third in 28.11 to stand atop as well.

Just off the podium was 200-meter champion Smith, who touched in 28.12, just 0.01 behind her captain teammate. Great Britain’s Anna Maine (28.40) and Cassie Wild (28.42) touched fifth and sixth, respectively.

Seventh was Russia’s Egorova in 28.71, while eighth place went to Jensen in 28.78 to round out the tightly competitive final heat.

womens-50-back-finals-world-juniors

Men’s 400 IM Finals

Spain’s Hugo Gonzalez broke Joseph Bentz‘s four-year-old World Junior Championship record on his way to gold in the finals of the men’s 400-meter IM this evening. Touching in 4:14.65, he also scared Sean Grieshop‘s World Junior record mark of 4:14.00. The silver medal went to Marton Barta of Hungary who touched a second later in 4:15.65.

Hungarian Balazs Hollo‘s time of 4:16.78 was good for the bronze medal. Team USA just missed out on a medal, as Kieran Smith touched fourth in 4:17.63. Fifth place went to Brodie Williams of Great Britain with his time of 4:20.64.

Argentina’s Santiago Bergliaffa (sixth, 4:22.29), Great Britain’s Nathan Hughes (seventh, 4:22.39), and Poland’s Marcel Wagrowski (eighth, 4:23.56) rounded out the top eight.

mens-400-im-final-world-juniors

Women’s 4×100 Free Relay Finals

Canada’s women’s relay team combined to break Australia’s World Junior record in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay this evening during the last event of day five finals. Taylor Ruck, Penny Oleksiak, Smith, and Sanchez worked together to throw down a time of 3:36.19, almost three seconds faster than the previous World Junior record set in 2015. Ruck led off in a blistering 53.63, the fastest split of the entire event.

Lucie Nordmann, Alex Walsh, Julia Cook, and Ariola stopped the clock for Team USA in 3:39.69, also faster than the previous World Junior record and good for the silver medal.

Ouchi, Miku Kojima, Ikee, and Sakai combined to win Japan relay bronze with their time of 3:40.59. Fourth place went to Russia in 3:41.56.

Australia’s team touched fifth in 3:43.57, while Germany was sixth in 3:45.34. Brazil’s team took seventh in the final heat with their time of 3:46.53. Eighth place in the final event of the evening went to South Africa, whose team touched the wall in 3:52.09.

womens-4x100-free-relay-world-juniors

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use