Women’s 50m Backstroke | 27.49

Australia’s only World Junior Record is under threat in Netanya, although breathing down the neck of Minna Atherton’s 27.49 are two fellow Australians, Jaclyn Barclay and Iona Anderson.

Barclay posted her entry time and personal best of 27.94 at the Australian Age Swimming Championships earlier this year, taking almost half a second off her career-best time in the outdoor pool on Australia’s Gold Coast.

Anderson opted to skip the Australian Age Championships in April to instead target open competitions, with the 17-year-old clocking her career-best time of 28.03 at the Australian Swimming Trials in June where she finished second in the non-selection event. Both girls are in the mix to break Atherton’s 27.49, a time the then 15-year-old set at a metropolitan-level sprint meet in Brisbane back in 2016.

Men’s 400m Freestyle | 3:44.31

It may be the second newest record on the books, but there’s every chance Bulgaria’s Petar Petrov Mitsin lowers his own mark set at the European Junior Swimming Championships in Serbia two months ago.

Mitsin's Belgrade swim of 3:44.31 broke the long-standing record of 3:44.60 set by Australia’s Mack Horton at the Australian Swimming Championships back in 2014, a swim that acted as a stepping stone on Horton’s road to claiming Olympic gold in the same event in Rio de Janeiro just two years later.

Mitsin posted a 3:46.16 in his most recent international appearance at the European U23 Championships three weeks ago and all eyes will be on the 18-year-old in the first final of the championships on night one to see if he can lower his own World Junior Record.

Men’s 100m Backstroke | 52.53

Only half a second separates the United States of America’s Daniel Diehl from a World Junior Record in the 100m Backstroke. Kliment Kolesnikov’s 52.53 from the European Championships in Glasgow has stood since 2018, with Kolesnikov the only male swimmer to currently hold the 50m, 100m & 200m World Junior Record treble in any stroke.

Diehl went 53.07 at the US Open Championships in December last year and posted a 53.91 at his most recent outing at the YMCA National Long Course Championships two months ago.

Having spent the best part of this year racing in yards format the 17-year-old may be on the cusp of adding the World Junior Record to his USA National Age Group Record in the 100m Backstroke.

Women’s 50m Butterfly | 25.46

There is no doubt Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Lana Pudar is in career-best form, with her gold medal-winning time of 26.10 in the 50m Butterfly at the European Junior Championships just 0.64 off Rikako Ikee’s World Junior Record set in Indianapolis at these very championships back in 2017.

Pudar opted not to swim the 50m Butterfly at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka to focus on the 100m & 200m events, with her fourth-placed finish in the 200m Butterfly the best individual swim in Fukuoka from any female athlete competing here in Netanya.

At the age of just 17 Pudar already holds open national records in six individual events, and a World Junior Record would be another significant milestone for a swimmer whose resume already includes six European Junior Championships titles and an open European Championships title.

Men’s 200m Backstroke | 1:55.14

Ukraine’s Oleksandr Zheltiakov is one of two swimmers entered in the Men’s 200m Backstroke with a career-best time within one second of the current World Junior Record.

Zheltiakov’s gold medal-winning time of 1:55.79 at the European Junior Championships in July was the 17-year-old’s second 200m Backstroke personal-best at that meet having earlier clocked 1:56.49 in the semi-finals.

The United States of America’s Daniel Diehl is also in career-best form in the 200m Backstroke, with his 1:56.04 at the USA National Championships in June just 0.90 seconds off Kliment Kolesnikov’s record from 2017.

Women’s 50m Breaststroke | 29:30

Estonia’s Eneli Jefimova has spent the past twelve months getting precariously close to breaking the World Junior Record in the 50m Breaststroke despite not yet breaking into the elusive ‘sub 30’ club.

The 16 year-old has swum within a second of Benedetta Pilato’s 29.30 on a number of occasions this year, including a 30.22 at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka in July and a 30.20 at the Estonian Open Championships in May.

To break the record Jefimova still needs to take 0.78 off her career-best time of 30.08 from the heats of the World Aquatics Championships in Budapest last year.

World Junior Records

Male | World Junior Records

Female | World Junior Records