World Junior Championships, Day Three Prelims: Charlotte Crush and Audrey Derivaux Lead Team USA in 200 Backstroke
The third day of preliminaries at the World Junior Championships will include a trio of sprint events. Action in Otopeni, Romania will see competition in the women’s 50 butterfly, men’s 50 backstroke and men’s 50 freestyle. Other events on the Thursday morning schedule are the women’s 100 breaststroke, women’s 200 backstroke and the mixed 400 freestyle relay. The slower heats of the men’s 800 freestyle will also be contested.
The United States women enjoyed a strong showing during the Night Two finals and will try to maintain that momentum. Charlotte Crush (100 backstroke), Audrey Derivaux (200 butterfly) and Rachel McAlpin (50 breaststroke) all claimed gold medals on Wednesday night, while Rylee Erisman set a championship record of 53.09 in the semifinals of the 100 freestyle.
Here is an event-by-event recap of the Day Three prelims:
Women’s 50 Butterfly
Coming off an excellent butterfly leg in Japan’s mixed medley relay victory the previous night, Mizuki Hirai led the opening round of the 50 butterfly. The University of Tennessee recruit went 26.09 to place .08 ahead of New Zealand’s Zoe Pedersen (26.17). Denmark’s Martine Damborg checked in with the third-fastest time, going 26.35.
Men’s 50 Backstroke
The United States’ Gavin Keogh earned the top seed for the semifinals by the slimmest of margins, as his 25.18 outing was a hundredth quicker than Russia’s Georgii Iakovlev (25.19). Keogh was the bronze medalist in the 100 backstroke, where Iakovlev was the silver medalist. Ireland’s John Shortt, the champion in the 100 backstroke, advanced to the semifinals in the No. 7 slot.
Women’s 100 Breaststroke
Germany’s Lena Ludwig and Lithuania’s Smilte Plytnykaite occupied the top-two positions for the semifinals of the 100 breaststroke. Ludwig touched the wall in 1:08.22, good for a Heat Eight win, while Plytnykaite was the winner of the seventh heat in 1:08.46. Aussie Hayley Mackinder followed in 1:08.50.
Men’s 50 Freestyle
The Ukraine’s Nikita Sheremet and Great Britain’s Jacob Mills logged the only two sub-22 performances in the prelims of the 50 freestyle, and have put Michael Andrew’s 2017 world junior record of 21.75 on notice. Sheremet put together a sprint of 21.82 for the top seed in the semifinals, while Mills recorded a mark of 21.98.
Italy’s Carlos D’Ambrosio, already the winner of the 200 freestyle in Otopeni, was listed as a disqualification in the results.
Women’s 200 Backstroke
The American duo of Charlotte Crush and Audrey Derivaux easily secured the top two seeds for the final of the 200 backstroke. Crush clocked 2:08.08 and Derivaux turned in a time of 2:08.29 as the U.S. athletes were four seconds clear of the field. Grabbing the third seed for the final was Canada’s Madison Kryger, who posted a swim of 2:12.18.
Mixed 400 Freestyle Relay
The United States will occupy Lane Four in the final of the mixed 400 freestyle relay after going 3:28.50 in prelims. Team USA was followed closely by Great Britain, which put together a mark of 3:28.64. Italy (3:29.59) and China (3:29.91) were also under 3:30 for third and fourth place.
