{"id":616270,"date":"2025-07-01T18:47:35","date_gmt":"2025-07-02T01:47:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=616270"},"modified":"2025-07-01T19:11:29","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T02:11:29","slug":"amalie-smith-posts-meet-record-en-route-to-400im-gold-at-european-junior-championships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/amalie-smith-posts-meet-record-en-route-to-400im-gold-at-european-junior-championships\/","title":{"rendered":"Amalie Smith Posts Meet Record En-Route To 400IM Gold At European Junior Championships"},"content":{"rendered":"

Amalie Smith Posts Meet Record En-Route To 400IM Gold At European Junior Championships<\/h4>\n

British 15-year-old Amalie Smith<\/strong> set a 4:37.02 meet record en-route to 400IM gold on the opening night of the European Junior Championships in Samorin.<\/p>\n

Vivien Jackl<\/strong> of Hungary had booked lane four for the final in search of a third straight title but it was the Briton who claimed gold after a breaststroke leg propelled her from third to first. She sliced 2.37 from the previous championship record of 4:39.28 set by the Hungarian in Vilnius last year. Noelle Benkler<\/strong> (4:39.01) and Jackl (4:40.40) were second and third.<\/p>\n

With that, Smith went sixth in the British all-time rankings behind Hannah Miley<\/strong> and her 4:31.33 national record, Aimee Willmott<\/strong> (4:33.01), Freya Colbert<\/strong> (4:34.01), Abbie Wood<\/strong> (4:36.66) and Katie Shanahan<\/strong> (4:36.67).<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s incredible really,\u201d Smith told European Aquatics. \u201cIt\u2019s my first European juniors so to be able to achieve that is \u2013 wow! One of my goals was to get here so to get a medal is just incredible. It was quite crazy, I got a four second PB which is really good especially as I\u2019ve been struggling to get near that time so I\u2019m really impressed with that. I just kept pushing through the tough times. I was hoping just to get a medal but when I saw that scoreboard I was so happy and all the hard training has been worth it. This will give me a lot of confidence as I never thought I could do this, so it\u2019s a real confidence\u00a0booster.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the women\u2019s 4x100m freestyle final Spain claimed gold amid huge celebration in 3:41.29, with Italy taking silver in 3:41.69 and bronze going to Germany on 3:42.36, 0.20 ahead of Great Britain.<\/p>\n

Italy won the men\u2019s 4x100m freestyle final in 3:19.26 as\u00a0France took silver in 3:19.26, with bronze going to Great Britain in 3:20.00.<\/p>\n

In semifinal action, T\u00fcrkiye’s\u00a0defending men\u2019s 50m breaststroke champion Nusrat Allahverdi<\/strong> laid down a marker with a time of 27.38 \u2013 just 0.15 off the Championship record set by Nicolo Martinenghi<\/strong> in 2017, now the Olympic champion over 100m.<\/p>\n

Neutral athlete Georgii Iakovlev<\/strong> topped the men\u2019s 50m backstroke semi-finals on 24.98 and\u00a0Lithuania\u2019s Tajus Juska<\/strong> was fastest qualifier for the men\u2019s 200m freestyle final in 1:47.35.<\/p>\n

Britain\u2019s Blythe Kinsman<\/strong> heads the women\u2019s 50m backstroke semis in 28.17, Italy\u2019s Bianca Nannucci<\/strong> headed the qualifiers for the women\u2019s 200m freestyle final in 1:59.14 and Estonia\u2019s Egle Salu<\/strong> was fastest in the women\u2019s 50m breaststroke semi-finals in 31.31.<\/p>\n