Italy’s tally of seven medals (one gold, two silver, four bronze) and Japan’s haul of six medals (one gold, three silver and two bronze) top the nation’s medal table after two days of competition.  Showcasing the excellence of swimming around the globe, athletes from 14 nations have earned medals so far in the Peruvian capital.

DAY 2 FINALS

MEN’S 100m BACKSTROKE 

Poland’s Ksawery Masiuk set a new championship record, 52.91, and in doing so defeated South Africa’s Pieter Coetze who bettered the championship record twice on the first day of competition.  Masiuk owns eleven European Junior Championship medals, five of them gold medals in the 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke and lead off Poland’s medley relay for his sixth gold medal this summer in Otopeni, Romania this past July. 

Masiuk continues his summer hot streak. At the 19^th FINA World Championships in Budapest, he finished third in this event swimming 52.58, just 3/100ths off the World Junior record. Following Budapest, Masiuk then won the 2022 European Junior title in Romania in this event, posting an identical time to his performance in Lima.

Pieter Coetze, the 2022 Commonwealth Games champion in this event, finished in 52.99, just off the two identical 52.95 swims he posted in the prelims and the semi-finals, both of which were championship records on the first day of competition.  

“Tonight I swam the third-fastest time of my career.  I can say that I am tired because it’s been a long summer season,” Masiuk said. “I was so fortunate to earn a bronze medal in Budapest, in my first world championships. 

“It was an amazing race and honestly I was only expecting a time that began with 53.  After seeing Pieter (Coetze) swim two great swims yesterday, I was more excited than scared.  Today I showed that I could swim faster, and I am humbled by the result.”  

WOMEN’S 200m BUTTERFLY

Italy’s Anna Porcari dropped more than three seconds from her fourth place seed in the preliminaries to outpace Turkish swimmer Mehlika Kuzeh Yalcin to the wall by 1.23 seconds. 

Porcari’s build-up to victory included being sixth at the first 50m touch and third at the midpoint of the race, a position she still held at 150m. 

The speed in her final lap of 33.82 made the difference with her winning time coming in at 2:12.00. Italian teammate, Paola Borrelli seeded first after the semi-finals, finished 1.36 behind Porcari to earn a bronze medal for their nation.

“I really didn’t expect this result. I am super happy to have swum much faster,” Porcari said. “I tried to find a pace that was comfortable for me because I was a bit tense before the race and I was worried about how I would swim.  I appreciate the support of my teammates; they are great and we are very united.”

MEN’S 200m FREESTYLE

David Popovici carved his name in the record books for a third time over two days, setting a new championship record in the 200m freestyle:  He won his first individual gold medal here in Lima to pair with the 4x100m Freestyle Relay title that Romania won on the first day – the first in Romania’s history at the FINA World Junior Swimming Championship. His time of 1:46.18 erases the previous four-year-old mark established by Ivan Girev of Russia (1:46.80) set in Indianapolis.  Popovici coasted to the top seed swimming 1:49.40 in the earlier semifinals.  

Just two weeks ago the Romanian ace swam the fastest time in the world for 2022, setting the current Junior World record of 1:42.97, the third fastest time in history. His winning time of 1:45.45 from July’s European Junior Championships in Otopeni, Romania was faster. 

Hungary’s Daniel Meszaros advanced from the fourth seed in the semi-finals to finish second, 2.80 seconds behind Popovici. 

Also improving on his sixth place seed time was Italian swimmer Filippo Bertoni who earned a bronze medal, finishing 2.87 behind the junior world champion.  

“I am having fun in Lima, and it was a great race,” Popovici said. “I am happy with the results. I just wanted to win and to lower the championship record. I didn’t have any specific time in mind. It sounded like the crowd supported me. It was a good enough time. 

“I am going to take a long holiday and enjoy not having to wake up to an alarm for an early morning practice,” Popovici added. “This is the home stretch for me.”  

WOMEN’S 50m BREASTSTROKE

Top-seeded Karolina Piechowicz of Poland shaved 9/100ths off her preliminary time to earn Poland’s second gold of the evening, outpacing European rivals Maria Ramos Najji of Spain by 13/100ths and Italy’s Irene Mati by 41/100ths seconds.  Piechowicz’s performance upgrades the bronze she earned at the European Junior Swimming Championships in July. 

“I came from behind to win this race, so I am happy with the result,” Piechowicz said. “It’s always been my strategy to finish the race strong.  I still have things to work on including my start, and of course, getting a feel for the water.  I am very happy with this win.”

MEN’S 100m BREASTSTROKE

Left chasing Serbia’s Uros Zivanovic who split 28.53 at the 50m midpoint, Austria’s Luka Mladenovic roared home in a powerful 32.74 to claim his nation's first medal in Lima in winning form, finishing in 1:01.30.  Poland’s Filip Urbanski completed the medals podium to add to his country’s ever-expanding bounty. 

“It feels so good to win this race.  I’m happy but also tired,” Mladenovic said. “It was a tight race and I think I won it in the end.  I am looking forward to my 200m breast event because I have been concentrating on preparations for the 200.”  

WOMEN’S 100m BACKSTROKE

European Junior Champion Dora Molnar claimed another medal for Hungary after her come-from-behind effort to claim victory.  Molnar’s 1:01.44 was her golden moment, by a scant 1/100th over Japan’s Aimi Nagaoka.  Not far behind was Japanese teammate Chiaki Yamamoto who followed her fingers to the touchpad for the third step on the podium.

“It’s amazing and I could not be happier.  It was a good time and I’m very happy because it was a very tight race,” Molnar said. “I really wanted to win this, and it was very tiring.  Tomorrow I will swim the 200m backstroke and I am hoping for a similar result.” 

MEN’S 200m INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY

Sanberk Yigit Oktar of Turkey was the only swimmer to go under the two-minute barrier to claim the first-ever gold medal by a Turkish male in FINA World Junior Swimming Championships history. 

The European junior champion’s winning time in Lima, 1:59.89 was considerably faster from his top-seeded prelim time of 2:01.76 and an improvement from the 2:00.48 time at European Juniors. 

Oktar’s time was more than a second faster than second-place finisher Tomoyuki Matsushita of Japan. The nation added a bronze medal with Yuta Watanabe, who came into the finals seeded seventh from the semi-finals.  

“I’m really happy with the win and I feel good about my race,” Oktar said. “It was the first gold medal for a Turkish male swimmer in Junior competition and my swim was a Turkish open age national record. 

“I was really nervous at the start of the race but when I turned for the breaststroke leg I saw that I was leading” Oktar recalled. “I am really happy with any time that’s faster than two minutes.  I’m really pleased to swim a 1:59.89.”  

WOMEN’S 800m FREESTYLE 

A second gold medal was won by a Turkish swimmer during Day 2’s evening finals session. Merve Tuncel led from start to finish, to win in 8:30. The European junior event titlist from July showed similar to the 8:28.32 she swam in Otopeni, Romania at the European juniors.  Tuncel swam her final lap in 30.70 to complete an impressive margin of victory. 

Ruka Takezawa of Japan finished 6.80 seconds back of Tuncel for silver, with Carla Carron of Spain completing the podium.  

"This is my first individual championship and I want to thank my parents, my coach and also my teammates for their support," Tuncel said. "It has been a long season, but I will continue working.”

MIXED 4x100m MEDLEY RELAY 

Freshly-crowned 100m backstroke champion Ksawery Masiuk led off Poland’s relay in a 53.52 just slightly behind South Africa’s Pieter Coetze. 

In third place at the midpoint, the assignment was left to Krzysztof Chmielewski (53.31) to take the lead, and to Paulina Cierpialowska (56.22) to hold the lead. 

Mission Accomplished.  Poland’s winning time of 3:52.00 was 3.58 seconds ahead of the third-place team from Italy, and 6.58 seconds ahead of South Africa. Hungary was disqualified for a false start.   

Ksawery Masiuk: "We showed the world what we are capable of.  The crowd in Lima is very supportive, maybe not as loud as in Budapest (World Championships) or as in Rome (European Championships) but they are cheering all of us on.  We are pushing 100% here because this is our last chance for the summer.”

Krzysztof Chmielewski: “We enjoyed the support of our teammates tonight.”

Paulina Cierpialowska: “I am grateful to win and to share this gold medal with my colleagues.”

Karolina Piechowicz:  “It’s a special moment for our team and I am happy that I can share this moment with each of them.”  

DAY 2 SEMI-FINAL RACES

MEN’S 100m BUTTERFLY 

Portugal’s Diogo Matos Ribeiro swam 52.29 to claim the top seed, followed by Daniel Gracik of the Czech Republic and Casper Puggard of Denmark.  Matos was the only swimmer to break 53 seconds, with Gracik posting a 53.13 and Puggard a 53.30 to claim the top three positions.

WOMEN’S 100m FREESTYLE  

Hungary’s Nikolett Padar won the second semifinal, arriving at the touchpad in 55.62 and ahead of Italy’s Matilda Biagiotti who finished second in the same semifinal (55.92).  Italian compatriot Marina Cacciapuoti won the first semifinal heat in 56.18 to earn the third seed.