World Junior Championships, Day Six Finals: Carlos D’Ambrosio Storms to 100 Free Title (Live Updates)
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
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