World Junior Championships, Day Six Finals: Yang Peiqi Completes The Quad with 200 Freestyle Crown; Carlos D’Ambrosio Storms to 100 Free Title
It’s the final day of the World Junior Championships, and the biennial competition featuring rising stars in the sport is set to wrap up with a flourish. There are 11 championship races on the schedule in Otopeni, Romania, including.a can’t-miss showdown in the opening event of the session. Great Britain’s Jacob Mills and Italy’s Carlos D’Ambrosio will meet in the 100-meter freestyle after both men posted sub-48 performances in the semifinals.
The United States’ Rylee Erisman will take on a difficult program, with the 16-year-old contesting the finals of the 50 freestyle and 200 freestyle, along with the 400 medley relay. Meanwhile, American Audrey Derivaux will race the 100 butterfly, where she’ll battle with Japanese Olympian Mizuki Hirai, the top seed and a University of Tennessee recruit. Derivaux has already collected three titles at World Juniors, winning the 200 butterfly, 200 backstroke and 200 individual medley.
The men’s 50 breaststroke will be intriguing. While Germany’s Jan Malte Grafe set a world junior record in the prelims, Great Britain’s Filip Nowacki and Japan’s Shin Ohashi are lurking. Nowacki has already won gold medals in the 100 breaststroke and 200 breaststroke, with Ohashi taking the silver medals in each event.
Here is an event-by-event recap of the Day Six finals.
Men’s 100 Freestyle
Italian Carlos D’Ambrosio scooped up his second title of the week with a victory in the 100 freestyle. D’Ambrosio prevailed in his duel with Great Britain’s Jacob Mills, posting a time of 47.88. Mills grabbed the silver medal in 48.22, with Lithuania’s Tajus Juska the bronze medalist in 48.72.
D’Ambrosio captured the gold medal in the 200 freestyle earlier in the meet and also picked up bronze in the 50 freestyle. His title in the 100 freestyle was a wire-to-wire triumph, as he went out in 23.08 and came home in 24.80. Mills was the top seed in the final, following his 47.74 from the semifinals.
Women’s 200 Breaststroke
It was a start-to-finish victory for Korea’s Moon Sua in the 200 breaststroke. Notching a swim of 2:24.77, Moon got to the wall nearly two seconds ahead of Germany’s Lena Ludwig, who was the silver medalist in 2:26.56. American Kaidy Stout earned her way onto the podium with a bronze-medal time of 2:26.84.
Men’s 200 Backstroke
Irishman John Shortt made it three podium appearances in as many backstroke events at World Juniors, his latest medal of the golden variety in the 200 distance. Shortt followed a win in the 100 backstroke and a bronze in the 50 backstroke with a convincing decision over four laps. Shortt touched the wall in 1:56.19, which wasn’t far off the championship record of 1:56.05, set in 2022 by South Africa’s Pieter Coetze.
Italy’s Daniele del Signore charged over the back half of the race to win the silver medal in 1:57.99 while American David Melnychuk was the bronze medalist in 1:58.13.
Women’s 100 Butterfly
Japanese Olympian Mizuki Hirai put together a dominant showing in the 100 butterfly, mining gold in a championship record of 56.87. That performance bettered the 57.02 mark set by Hirai in the semifinals and was nearly a second faster than thr 57.74 of American Audrey Derivaux for the silver medal. A University of Tennessee recruit, Hirai split 26.55 for the front half of the race and came home in 30.32.
Derivaux collected her fourth individual medal of the meet, complementing golds in the 200 butterfly, 200 backstroke and 200 individual medley. The bronze medal was won by China’s Gong Zhenqi (58.100), who finished ahead of Charlotte Crush (58.26).
Men’s 1500 Freestyle
Make it back-to-back world junior titles for Turkey’s Kuzey Tuncelli, who repeated his crown from 2023 in impressive fashion. Tuncelli covered his 30 laps in 14:48.81, which was more than eight seconds faster than the 14:56.97 of Japan’s Kazushi Imafuku. Tuncelli was behind Imafuku through 450 meters, but he made a move at that point and continually pulled away. The bronze medal was earned by Greece’s Vasileios Kakoulakis in 15:00.29.
Women’s 50 Freestyle
Racing in the first of three events on the final day of action, the United States’ Rylee Erisman clipped Great Britain’s Theodora Taylor in the 50 freestyle. Erisman, already the champion of the 100 freestyle, got to the wall in 24.70, with Taylor right behind in 24.72. Erisman will have the finals of the 200 freestyle and 400 medley relay later in the session.
The bronze medal went to Croatia’s Jana Pavalic in 24.85, with American Annam Olasewere in fourth in 24.96.
Men’s 200 Butterfly
South African Kris Mihaylov backed up his top seed by securing the gold medal in the 200 fly, going 1:56.16. Mihaylov was in third place after the opening lap, but he led the rest of the way to defeat Hungarian David Antal, who went 1:56.87 for the silver medal. Third place went to Turkey’s Tuncer Berk Erturk, thanks to a swim of 1:58.21.
Men’s 50 Breaststroke
There was a surprise in the final of the 50 breaststroke as Turkey’s Nusrat Allahverdi edged Germany’s Jan Malte Grafe by the slimmest of margins for the gold medal. Allahverdi posted a time of 26.98 to beat Grafe, who went 26.99. In the prelims, Grafe clocked a world junior record of 26.95. The bronze medal went to Japan’s Shin Ohashi, who checked in at 27.12, ahead of the 27.18 of Great Britain’s Filip Nowacki. Ohashi also won silver medals in the 100 breaststroke and 200 breaststroke.
Women’s 200 Freestyle
China’s Yang Peiqi completed The Quad during Sunday night’s session, winning the 200 freestyle in a championship record of 1:56.25. That outing easily broke the previous standard of 1:57.08, which was set by Canada’s Taylor Ruck at the 2017 edition of World Juniors. All three medalists went under Ruck’s record, and Yang’s latest title complemented earlier victories in the 400 freestyle, 800 freestyle and 1500 freestyle.
The United States’ Rylee Erisman, who won gold in the 50 freestyle earlier in the evening, charged through the field during the back half of the race and earned silver in 1:56.76. She was followed in the bronze position by Italy’s Alessandra Mao, who went 1:57.00. American Kennedi Dobson was fourth in 1:57.45.
Men’s 400 Medley Relay
Japan held off a furious charge from Jacob Mills and Great Britain to claim the last men’s gold medal of the meet. The foursome of Yumeki Kojima, Shin Ohashi, Raito Numata and Kazusa Kuroda produced a time of 3:35.00, which was .02 clear of the 3:35.02 from Great Britain. The British squad was fueled by Mills, who anchored in 47.65 and nearly pulled off an epic comeback.
Ohashi came through with a 58.55 split on the breaststroke leg that went a long way toward powering Japan to victory. Meanwhile, Italy grabbed the bronze medal in 3:35.86, on the strength of Carlos D’Ambrosio’s freestyle split of 47.27.
Women’s 400 Medley Relay
The United States wrapped up the World Junior Championships with a dominant win in the 400 medley relay, as the quartet of Charlotte Crush, Rachel McAlpin, Audrey Derivaux and Rylee Erisman clocked a swim of 3:59.85. That time was comfortably ahead of China, which won the silver medal in 4:01.37. The bronze medal went to Russia in 4:01.61.
