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29 March 2024

First gold to Australia in World Junior Swimming Championships

USA gold medallists in the 4x200m freestyle relay. (SUPPLIED)

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By Staff

Australia had a resurgence in the pool at the 4th Fina World Junior Swimming Championships on Monday night, taking two gold and one silver in the first finals session at the Hamdan Sports Complex.

The US also performed strongly and now head the medal table with two gold and two silver after an exciting evening of action which also saw five championship records fall.

After an entertaining Opening Ceremony which gave the audience a taste of Emirati culture with a camel and a falcon paraded around the venue, the evening session of four semifinals and four finals commenced with a dominant display from 17 year-old Australian Mack Horton who picked up two gold for the evening.

Horton followed up his fine heat swim this morning in the boys 400m freestyle where he broke the Championship Record, by breaking it again and taking his first gold of the night in the final with 3:47.12.

Horton was sitting in third at the 300m mark, but as he said later: “I really wanted to win this so I had to chase them down. I’m tired now but happy, and this gives me lots of confidence for my other swims.”

Great Britain’s James Guy was second in 3:48.05, with Czech Republic’s Jan Micka third in 3:48.32.

The other record breaker in the morning’s heats, Lithuania’s star Ruta Meilutyte, also broke her record again in the semis of the 50m breaststroke, with 30.04.

Meilutyte said: “I am happy with that, it’s a good start. I wanted to go 29 seconds so I’ll see how I go in the final tomorrow night.”
 
Meilutyte has a particularly heavy programme, swimming in nine events. “This is a good chance to compete in the other events that I don’t normally get to do, I think I am quite capable in them so hopefully I will get some pbs.”

Meilutyte’s compatriot Danas Rapsys also swam well, qualifying fastest for the boys 100m backstroke final.

In other semifinals, Kohei Goto of Japan qualified fastest ahead of Russia’s Ilya Khomenko in the boys 100m breaststroke, and Daria Ustinova of Russia touched out Kathleen Baker and Clara Smiddy both of the USA to be the fastest into the girls 100m backstroke final.

The girls 400m IM final was won by Ella Eastin of the USA in a Championship record of 4:40.02, ahead of teammate Rebecca Mann in 4:40.26, with Canada’s Emily Overholt third in 4:42.03.
Eastin was delighted with her performance in her first international meet, saying “It was pretty painful but I’m very excited and glad to share it with Becca. This is a great complex, and a great place to win my first medal.”

The last two finals of the night also provided plenty of excitement as the Australian team of Luke Percy, Regan Leong, Blake Jones and Mack Horton took the lead in the first leg of the boys 4x100m freestyle relay and never let it slip, finishing in a Championship record of 3:16.96, ahead of the USA in 3:19.21, with Russia third in 3:19.57.

The Australian boys were very pleased with their performance, with Mack Horton picking up his second gold of the night. “I am pretty stoked and I am really happy for the team,” Horton said after the race.

The last event on the Day 1 programme, the girl’s 4x200m relay, saw the Australian team start strongly but they were eventually overhauled by the American team of Cierra Runge, Quinn Carrozza, Kathryn McLaughlin and Katherine Drabot, who finished in 7:59.42, another Championship record, with Australia taking silver and Russia the bronze.

The Championship runs from August 26-31, with heats each day from 10am to 1.00pm, and semifinals and finals each night from 6-8.30pm. Nearly 800 swimmers from 91 nations have gathered in Dubai to contest the Championships which is for the top juniors in the world, girls aged 14-17 and boys aged 15-18, making this the largest World Junior Swimming Championships since its inception in 2006. 

Tickets are Dh20 per day or Dh80 for the week, and are available at the door during the event. The Hamdan Sports Complex is on Emirates Road (previously Dubai Bypass Road). A free bus service will operate each day from the Mall of the Emirates and Dubai Mall for the morning and evening sessions. All details are on the event facebook page.

All the information about the Championships can be found at www.fina-dubai2013.com, and on the Facebook page FINAWJSCDubai2013.