The seventh edition of the FINA World Junior Swimming Championships, that saw more than 800 swimmers from 122 nations competing in the iconic “Duna Arena” concluded today in Budapest (HUN) and consecrated the USA as the “Best Team” of the competition. The North American delegation amassed 37 medals and led the medal table with a total of 18 gold, 10 silver and nine bronze medals. Individually, Andrei Minakov (RUS), among men, and Lani Pallister (AUS), in the women’s category, were the best swimmers of the event, held between August 20-25, 2019.
Minakov, already one of the athletes to beat at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires (ARG), left the Championships with a total of seven medals: gold in the 100m free, 100m fly and 4x100m medley, silver in the 50m fly, 4x100m free, mixed 4x100m free and 4x100m medley. Pallister climbed on the podium in six occasions: gold in the 400m, 800m and 1500m free (in all of them establishing new Championships Records), silver in the 200m free, 4x100m free and 4x200m free.
The list of multi-medallists with five podium presences or more include five US swimmers: Gretchen Walsh, Torri Huske and Wyatt Davis, all with six, and Luca Urlando and Carson Foster, both with five medals. From Canada, Jade Hannah shone in the women’s events, with five visits to the podium.
With USA leading operations, the top-5 of the nations on the medal table comprised Russia in the second place with 22 awards (seven gold, 11 silver and four bronze), followed by Australia with 13 (4+5+4), Italy with 12 (3+2+7) and Canada also with 12 (2+5+5). A total of 20 countries earned at least one medal in the Magyar capital.
After the completion of the 42 races in the programme, eight new Junior World Records were established, while 18 best marks of the Championships were also improved in the “Duna Arena”.
Winners in Budapest (HUN):
50m free: Men – Vladyslav Bukhov (UKR), 22.13; Women – Gretchen Walsh (USA), 24.71
100m free: Men – Andrei Minakov (RUS), 48.73; Women – Gretchen Walsh (USA), 53.74
200m free: Men – Luca Urlando (USA), 1:46.97; Women – Erika Fairweather (NZL), 1:57.96
400m free: Men – Gabor Zombori (HUN), 3:46.06 (CR); Women – Lani Pallister (AUS), 4:05.42 (CR)
800m free: Men – Franko Grgic (CRO), 7:45.92; Women – Lani Pallister (AUS), 8:22.49 (CR)
1500m free: Men – Franko Grgic (CRO), 14:46.09 (JWR); Women – Lani Pallister (AUS), 15:58.86 (CR)
50m backstroke: Men – Jan Cejka (CZE), 25.08; Women – Bronte Job (AUS), 27.87
100m backstroke: Men – Thomas Ceccon (ITA), 53.46 (CR); Women – Jade Hannah (CAN), 59.63
200m backstroke: Men – Wyatt Davis (USA), 1:58.18; Women – Jade Hannah (CAN), 2:09.28
50m breaststroke: Men – Vladislav Gerasimenko (RUS), 27.58; Women – Benedetta Pilato (ITA), 30.60
100m breaststroke: Men – Vladislav Gerasimenko (RUS), 59.97; Women – Evgeniia Chikunova (RUS), 1:06.93
200m breaststroke: Men – Josh Matheny (USA), 2:09.40 (CR); Women – Evgeniia Chikunova (RUS), 2:24.03
50m butterfly: Men – Thomas Ceccon (ITA), 23.37; Women – Torri Huske (USA), 25.70
100m butterfly: Men – Andrei Minakov (RUS), 51.25; Women – Torri Huske (USA), 57.71
200m butterfly: Men – Luca Urlando (USA), 1:55.02; Women – Lillie Nordmann (USA), 2:08.24
200m IM: Men – Carson Foster (USA), 1:58.46 (CR); Women – Justina Kozan (USA), 2:11.55
400m IM: Men – Apostolos Papastamos (GRE), 4:11.93 (JWR); Women – Alba Vazquez Ruiz (ESP), 4:38.53 (JWR)
4x100m free: Men – USA, 3:15.80 (JWR); Women – USA, 3:37.61
4x200m free: Men – USA, 7:08.37 (JWR); Women – USA, 7:55.49
4x100m medley: Men – Russia, 3:33.19 (JWR); Women – USA, 3:59.13
Mixed 4x100m free: USA, 3:25.92 (JWR)
Mixed 4x100m medley: USA, 3:44.84 (JWR)
JWR – Junior World Record
CR – Championships Record