Nikolett Padar of Hungary became the
most decorated female athlete of the 8th FINA World Junior Swimming
Championships by claiming five Gold Medals. David Popovici won the 100m
Freestyle title, capping an exceedingly successful summer that saw him win
World, European, and Juniors championship titles in both the 100m and 200m
freestyle. South Africa's Pieter Coetze sets Championships Record in the 200m
Backstroke, as he was able to flip the finals script with Ksawery Masiuk of
Poland who had taken the 50m and 100m backstroke events. In his "last
dance" in a junior event, Masiuk leaves Lima as the the most decorated
male athlete, pocketing four gold and two bronze at the championships.
Masiuk contributed 4 golds and two
bronze medals to his Polish team’s medal count.
He led off the men’s 4x100m Medley Relay that captured the gold
medal. Poland’s twin engines, Krzysztof
and Michal Chmielewski, claimed the top two medals in the 200m butterfly, with
Krsztof taking the gold in 1:55.78.
Krzysztof will leave Peru with three gold medals, two in relays, and a
bronze in the 400m freestyle. In addition to his individual silver, Michal swam
the butterfly leg on the winning medley relay.
Japan topped the medal table with 19
medals, of which 7 were golds, 8 were silver and 4 bronze. Poland and Hungary also matched Japan's gold
medal mark of seven, as both other countries tallied 14 medals. Italy’s wealth
could be measured by their 20 medals, but they were lacking in the mining of
Inca gold, as their tally in Peru was only two of the shiny medals.
MEN'S 100m FREESTYLE
David Popovici, the world’s newest
world record holder in the 100m freestyle set in Rome in August, dropped
another 47-point time, winning the same event in Lima. His 47.13 in the final
is just 6/100ths off the Championship Record mark he swam earlier in the week
as the Romanian won his signature event by more than two seconds. The Romanian’s three golds and three silvers
are even more impressive considering the three championship records he set
earlier in the week.
WOMEN'S 200m BREASTSTROKE
Spain's Emma Carrasco Cadens won her
first gold medal in the 200m breaststroke in 2:26.93 having led the entire
race, to go with the bronze earned in the 200 IM
MEN'S 200m BACKSTROKE
South Africa’s Pieter Coetze set
three championship records in Lima, each erased by the speed and energy of
Ksawery Masiuk of Poland in the 50m and 100m backstroke events. Coetze raced to a new championship record,
winning the 200m backstroke event in 1:56.05 .
In his final race of the championships, Coetze led off the 4x100m
freestyle real, with the South African quartet earning silver.
“I was nervous because it’s the last
day, and it was my last race, and my body is more than a bit fatigued,” Coetze
said. “I’m very happy to have won this event on the last day of the meet. I was
not expecting to swim that fast so it's an amazing way to finish. I am so happy that I got this win.”
Added Coetze on his budding – and
friendly – rivalry with Poland’s Ksawery Masiuk: “I have been following Ksawery
Masiuk’s swimming results for more than a year and I know that he’s very
fast. I think we motivated each other to
swim faster and I am sure that we will race each other many times in the
future.
“I hope to do big things in swimming
in the future.”
WOMEN'S 100m BUTTERFLY
Japan’s Mizuki Hirai was fastest in
the 100m butterfly, adding another gold medal to the medals table for her
country. The Japanese women won 13
medals in Lima, including the final 4x100m Medley Relay. The relay included
Hirai and was anchored by triple gold medalist Mio Narita, who also won the
200m and 400m individual medley.
“This is my first medal in an international
competition, and I am really happy with the victory,” Hirai said.
MEN'S 1500m FREESTYLE
Spain’s Carlos Garach Benito swept
the two longest distance events winning his second gold medal in the 1500m
freestyle event in 15:08.14.
“I am happy to have won the race as
this has been a long year,” Benito said. “Now I have time to relax and to get
ready for bigger races in the future. I
will not be racing open water in Seychelles (for the FINA World Junior Open
Water Swimming Championships) but I am sure to be back in open water races in
November because I know the experience can only come from racing many times.”
WOMEN'S 50m FREESTYLE
Romania’s first and only individual
female medal was by Bianca-Andreea Costea who won the 50m freestyle
tonight. As a member of the 4x100m Mixed
Freestyle Relay, Costea also earned a silver medal earlier in the week. Romania concluded the championships with
eight total medals, identical to Turkey’s medal count of four gold, two silver,
two bronze.
“I really have no words. I can’t
believe it. I wanted this so much,”
Costea said. “I am extremely happy. I gave me best tonight. I know that I can
improve on my start and also my underwater, but I was comfortable with my
rhythm. My goal is to swim as fast as some of the best swimmers in the
world. I have learned a lot from my
teammate David Popovici including how to control my emotions and to have trust
in myself.”
MEN'S 200m BUTTERFLY
Twin brothers Krzysztof and Michal
Chmielewski of Poland went one-two in this event, with Krysztof earning the top
step on the podium in 1:55.78. Ei Kamikawabata of Japan secured bronze.
“We do everything together, the same
school, the same class, and the same friends and of course training,” Krzsztof
said. “It’s fantastic to win this race and for our family to see my brother
earn a silver medal as well. I was
thinking only about my time and also about doing everything in a perfect way.”
Added Michal: “I was thinking about
all I could do to finish strong in the last 50m.”
MEN'S 50m BREASTSTROKE
Uros Zivanovic of Serbia won the 50m
Breaststroke final in 27.7, followed by Alex Sabattani (28.21) in silver and
Luka Mladenovic (28.32) of Austria securing bronze.
“This race was amazing; these guys
are so fast; I am excited to be here,” Zivanovic said. “It’s a great honour, I
expected it to be a good race and I knew it would be tough to win this
race. It has been a long season but this
is the best way to end the season. I’m
excited about the future. I want to
thank my teammates, my coach, my physio and of course my family.”
WOMEN'S 200m FREESTYLE
Hungary’s Nikolett Padar won her
fifth gold medal of the championships in the 200m freestyle, her winning time
was 1:58.19. The Golden Girl of the 8th
FINA World Championships won both the 50m and the 100m freestyle events and
three relays for Hungary.
"It's an amazing experience for
me in Lima," Padar remarked. "My hardest race was the 200m freestyle,
and it was also the most rewarding race for me.
I didn’t think I could win, so it’s a happy moment. I have a small break, but also school so I
will continue to be very busy."
MEN'S 4X100m MEDLEY RELAY
Poland claimed their seventh gold of
these championships in the Men's Medley Relay in 3:40.17, followed by South
Africa in 3:42.95 for silver and France in 3:43.68 for bronze. The winning
Polish quartet was enthused about the race - and week and the crowds in Lima:
Ksawery Masiuk (53.46) – “We believed
as a team that we are the best. It was
out last race so it was exciting and I gave it 100 percent.”
Filip Urbanski (1:02.40) – “Although
this season just ended another season is just starting, so there’s no time off
for me.”
Michal Chmielewski (53.87) – “We went
after this medal.”
Krzysztof Matuszewski (50.44) – “The
best thing about Lima was the crowd and we felt their support. It was an amazing relay but it was a tough
race.”
WOMEN'S 4X100m MEDLEY RELAY
For the last event of the
Championships, it's Japan kept pace and clinched the gold medal pulling away
just enough to win in 4:06.44 over Italy in 4:06.91. Poland completed the
podium at 4:08.22.
In unison, the Japanese members of
the relay said: “We are so happy!”
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