World Junior Championships, Day Two Finals: Charlotte Crush Mines Gold in 100 Backstroke as U.S. Women Dominate
The second night of action at the World Junior Championships in Otopeni, Romania will see medals handed out in nine events, including in the much-anticipated final of the men’s 100-meter breaststroke. The event features Japan’s Shin Ohashi, the world junior record holder, and Great Britain’s Filip Nowacki, the European junior champion. The men are also slated to meet later in the meet in the 200 breaststroke.
Day Two will also see American Rylee Erisman take to the blocks in the semifinals of the 100 freestyle, where she set a championship record of 53.17 during the preliminaries. That time was also good for a National Age Group (NAG) record in the 15-16 classification, with the former standard belonging to Claire Curzan at 53.55. Erisman could challenge the 53-second barrier in either the semifinals or Thursday night’s final.
The final of the men’s 100 backstroke will open the session, followed by the final of the women’s 200 butterfly and championship races in the men’s 200 freestyle and women’s 50 breaststroke. Semifinals will be conducted in the men’s 100 butterfly and women’s 100 freestyle before finals close out the evening in the men’s 100 breaststroke, women’s 100 backstroke, men’s 200 individual medley, women’s 800 freestyle and the mixed 400 medley relay.
Here is an event-by-event breakdown of the Night Two action:
Men’s 100 Backstroke (Final)
A wide open final was won by Ireland’s John Shortt, who rallied from a tie for third at the midway point of the race to capture the gold medal in 53.86. Shortt was out in 26.17 and came home in 27.69 to edge Russia’s Georgii Iakovlev, who touched the wall in 53.94. Iakovlev also surged over the back half of the race, moving up from sixth to the silver-medal position.
Shortt competed at the recent World Championships in Singapore, where he was 26th in the 100 backstroke and did not advance out of the prelims. The bronze medal went to the United States’ Gavin Keogh, who had the lead at the turn and finished in 54.06. He was followed in fourth by Australian Henry Allan (54.25). Keogh had been 53.52 during the semifinals.
Women’s 200 Butterfly (Final)
A big move from the United States’ Audrey Derivaux on the third lap enabled the 16-year-old to claim the world junior crown in the 200 fly. Derivaux registered a time of 2:07.57, which got her to the wall just ahead of the 2:07.67 produced by Russia’s Serafima Fokina. Derivaux trailed Fokina, 1:00.65 to 1:01.04 at the midway point, but the U.S. athlete split 32.54 on the third length, compared to the 33.52 of Fokina.
Fokina charged down the stretch, closing in 33.50, but Derivaux and her finishing split of 33.99 was enough to fend off the Russian athlete. Derivaux earned the top step of the podium after placing fourth in the 400 individual medley on the opening night of the meet. The bronze medal went to Japan’s Umi Ishizuka, who clocked a swim of 2:08.16.
Men’s 200 Freestyle (Final)
It’s been quite the summer for Italy’s Carlos D’Ambrosio. The sixth-place finisher in the 200 freestyle at the World Championships, D’Ambrosio destroyed the championship record at World Juniors, winning the event in 1:45.15. That time bettered the Italian record, which D’Ambrosio had previously established at 1:45.23. In setting the championship record, D’Ambrosio cut more than a second off the 1:46.17 of David Popovici from 2022.
D’Ambrosio led from the start, splitting 24.28 at the first turn and touching at the 100-meter mark in 50.89. D’Ambrosio was 27.20 for his third length and came home in 27.06. The silver medal went to China’s Xu Haibo, who covered his four laps in 1:46.67, which was slightly faster than the 1:46.70 of Japan’s Raito Numata. Numata was racing the first of two finals on the night, with the 200 individual medley to come.
Women’s 50 Breaststroke (Final)
The United States’ Rachel McAlpin, the top seed, backed up her status as the favorite and cruised to the gold medal. McAlpin was the only athlete to crack the 31-second barrier, going 30.78 for a .34 margin over silver medalist Smilte Plytnykaite (31.12) of Lithuania. The bronze medal went to Russia’s Ralina Giliazova in 31.19.
Men’s 100 Butterfly (Semifinals)
Lucio Flavio de Paula Filho will race out of Lane Four in the final of the 100 butterfly after swimming 52.31 for the top time of the semifinals. Great Britain’s Dean Fearn (52.55) and American Rowan Cox (52.59) will try to give de Paula Filho a push for the title, along with Lithuanian Tajus Juska (52.61).
Women’s 100 Freestyle (Semifinals)
For the second time on the day, the United States’ Rylee Erisman broke the championship record in the 100 freestyle. After posting a 53.17 outing in the prelims, Erisman got down to 53.09 in the semifinals. In addition to breaking the championship record, Erisman twice lowered the National Age Group (NAG) standard in the 15-16 classification. The mark was 53.55 at the start of the day.
Great Britain’s Theodora Taylor moved on as the No. 2 seed for the final while American Lily King qualified third in 54.68.
Men’s 100 Breaststroke (Final)
Using a sensational back half, Great Britain’s Filip Nowacki reeled in Japan’s Shin Ohashi to win gold in the 100 breaststroke, one of the headliner events of World Juniors. Nowacki registered a time of 59.20, which put him comfortably ahead of the 59.50 by Ohashi, the world junior record holder at 58.94. Great Britain put a pair of athletes on the podium, as Max Morgan also went sub-1:00, clocking 59.93 for the bronze medal.
Nowacki was out in 28.10, placing him fourth and .40 behind Ohashi, while Morgan was in front in 27.41. But over the second 50 meters, Nowacki cut into Ohashi’s lead and pulled noticeably ahead on the way to the wall. Nowacki closed in 31.10, comapred to the 31.80 of Ohashi.
Nowacki was not far off the championship record of Italian Nicolo Martinenghi, who went 59.01 in 2017. Nowacki and Ohashi will duel twice more, in the 50 breaststroke and 200 breaststroke. The 200 distance matchup is viewed as the showcase event of the meet on the men’s side.
Women’s 100 Backstroke (Final)
Dominant through the prelims and semifinals, the United States’ Charlotte Crush was again untouchable in the final of the 100 backstroke. Crush was the only competitor to go under the minute barrier, swimming 59.52 for a half-second triumph. Crush split 28.82 for the first lap, which put her second, but she had the lead by the early stages of the return lap and was never threatened.
Romania’s Daria-Mariuca Silisteanu was the silver medalist in 1:00.02 and Canada’s Maidson Kryger grabbed the bronze medal in 1:00.27. A University of Tennessee recruit, Crush is scheduled to race five individual events during World Juniors, making her one of the busiest athletes at the meet.
Men’s 200 Individual Medley (Final)
Russia’s Mikhail Shcherbakov and Japan’s Yumeki Kojima engaged in a sensational duel for the gold medal in the 200 individual medley, with Shcherbakov narrowly emerging on top in a championship record of 1:57.25. That time erased the previous meet standard of 1:57.29, set by American Maximus Williamson in 2023. Kojima, the world junior record holder in the 400 IM, clocked 1:57.32 for the silver medal.
Shcherbakov covered the opening butterfly leg in 25.09 for a .04 edge over Kojima. But the Japanese standout went 29.15 for the backstroke and took a 54.28 to 54.69 advantage at the midway point. Kojima stayed in front through the breaststroke leg, but Shcherbakov cut into his deficit, trailing only 1:29.05 to 1:29.10 entering the freestyle length. Over the final 50 meters, the Russian split 28.15 to the 28.27 of Kojima.
Japan’s Raito Numata won the bronze medal in 1:57.98. Earlier in the session, Numata was the bronze medalist in the 200 freestyle.
Women’s 800 Freestyle (Final)
After just missing the final of the 800 freestyle at the World Championships in Singapore, China’s Yang Peiqi packaged a dominant performance to collect the world junior title in the event. Yang raced to a time of 8:22.93 during the night session and won the timed final comfortably over Argentina’s Agostina Hein, who went 8:26.19. Hein was the champion of the 400 individual medley on the opening night of the meet. Russia’s Kseniia Misharina took the bronze medal in 8:29.50.
Yang split her race nearly even as she was 4:11.10 for the first 400 meters and clocked 4:11.83 for the last eight laps.
Mixed 400 Medley Relay (Final)
The middle legs proved to be the difference for Japan, which claimed the gold medal in 3:45.57, which was a little more than a half-second ahead of the United States (3:46.12). Shin Ohashi split 58.52 for the breaststroke and Mizuki Hirai was 56.68 on the butterfly for Japan, which was able to build a commanding lead going into the freestyle leg.
Yumeki Kojima, coming off a silver medal in the 200 IM, led off in 54.90 for the backstroke leg, which had Japan in third. But by the time Ohashi was done, Japan was in front and Hirai expanded the lead. On the anchor, Yui Fukuoka split 55.47, but the cushion was enough to fend off a 53.05 effort of Rylee Erisman. She was preceded on the American squad by Gavin Keogh (54.07), Gabe Nunziata (1:00.80) and Charlotte Crush (58.20).
Great Britain was the bronze medalist in 3:46.43 and benefited from Filip Nowacki splitting 58.83 on the breaststroke leg.
