Men's 100m Backstroke | Four swimmers hot on the heels of Czechia’s Miroslav Knedla

Image Source: Gilad Kavalerchik/World Aquatics

Czechia’s Miroslav Knedla (53.28) is the man to beat in the Men’s 100m Backstroke and will swim from lane four having qualified fastest from both the heats and the semi finals, while Argentina’s Ulises Saravia (53.95) was the surprise packet of the semi finals with the 17 year-old elated with his personal best swim.

“I’ve been training a lot for this moment and I’m very thankful to my family and my trainer,” Saravia told World Aquatics after his semi final.

Ukraine’s Oleksandr Zheltiakov (54.16), Italy’s Christian Bacico (54.27), and the United States of America’s Daniel Diehl (54.27) are all within a second of top seed Knedla, with the final every chance to have one of the closest finishes of the night two program.

Women's 200m Butterfly |  Bella Grant Eyeing Australia’s First Gold in Netanya

Bella Grant (2:09.55) delivered the fastest time of this morning’s heats in the 200m Butterfly and looks to be Australia’s best chance for an individual gold medal on day two of competition. The 18 year-old looked strong over the four lap swim and will line up this evening alongside Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Lana Pudar (2:10.11) and the United States of America’s Hannah Bellard (2:11.46).

Grant told World Aquatics after her race that she felt comfortable with her heat swim and that she had no qualms about having to do it all over again tonight.

“It felt really good. The goal was just to be fast and relaxed, win the heat, and get into the final tonight,” said Grant.

“It’s very similar to what we do at our age nationals in Australia, and I’m able to back up pretty well there, so I’m pretty confident going into tonight.”

Men's 200m Freestyle |  Italy’s Ragaini Looking to Spoil the Southam and Mitsin Show

Italy’s Alessandro Ragaini (1:48.06) made a statement this morning and reminded the Netanya crowd that there are more names in the Men’s 200m Freestyle than just Southam and Mitsin. The Italian went close to a season-best from the third last heat, finishing ahead of Petar Mitsin (1:48.59), Jason Zhao (1:48.60), Lucas Cooper (1:48.79), and Flynn Southam (1:48.83). All five swimmers were faster than last year’s silver medallist, and the final is no doubt set to deliver another epic Netanya finish.

Women's 50m Breaststroke | Jefimova and Wieruszowski Headline Quick Breaststroke Field

 
 
 
 
 
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Estonia’s Eneli Jefimova continues to knock on the door of the elusive ‘sub 30’ club, so will tonight finally be the night that the 16 year-old finally breaks that barrier? Jefimova has been solid in the heats (30.19) and semi finals (30.48), and pre-meet was one of six swimmers the World Aquatics media team flagged as having the potential to break a World Junior Record in Netanya.

New Zealand’s Monique Wieruszowski (30.81) was the only other swimmer under ‘31.00’ in the semi finals and will also be chasing a bit of history as she aims to continue the island nation’s incredible streak of winning a world junior title at every championships they have sent a team to.

Alexanne Lepage (31.04) will swim from lane three tonight with the Canadian telling World Aquatics after her heat swim on day one that she was ready to embrace everything the Netanya championships will deliver.

“I’m excited to be here and excited to race so we will see how it goes,” Lepage told World Aquatics.

Men's 100m Breaststroke  |  USA Aiming for First Breaststroke Gold in Tonight’s Closest Final

Image Source: Gilad Kavalerchik/World Aquatics

The United States of America has two young breaststrokers chasing history for their country in the 100m Breaststroke final tonight with both Watson Nguyen (1:01.34) and Joshua Chen (1:01.49) aiming to become the country’s first junior world champion in the 100m Breaststroke. Nguyen was animated before and after his semi final swim on night one, and looks to be in career-best form here in Netanya.

Australia’s Gideon Burnes (1:01.59) qualified third fastest from the semi finals with the entire field separated by less than a second. Burnes appeared super relaxed after his semi final swim which was almost a second lower than his title winning swim at the Australian Age Swimming Championships earlier this year.

“I felt good and stuck to the plan,” Burnes told World Aquatics after his race. When asked if he had more in the tank the 17 year-old was quick to answer - ”Oh yeah!”

Women's 100m Backstroke  |  USA and Australia to go Head-to-Head in Backstroke on Night Two

Image Source: Gilad Kavalerchik/World Aquatics

The United States of America will be aiming for a ‘one-two’ finish in the Women’s 100m Backstroke, with Teagan O’Dell (59.83) and Erika Pelaez (59.94) swimming through as fastest qualifiers from the semi final stage. The Australian double of Jaclyn Barclay (1:00.28) and Iona Anderson (1:00.52) will swim either side of the USA pair, with Barclay the only other swimmer in the field that has swum ‘sub-minute’.

Men's 200m IM |  Matsushita Breaks Championship Record in Morning Heats

Tomoyuki Matsushita (1:58.42) delivered the swim of the morning on day two of competition at Wingate Institute, breaking Carson Foster’s Championship Record and delivering the fastest time from the heats having entered the meet as third seed.

“I expected this and have been working on 200m IM more than 400m IM,” Matsushita told World Aquatics after his heat.

The United States of America’s Daniel Diehl (2:00.69) qualified second, with Japan’s Riku Yamaguchi (2:01.11) and USA’s Maximus Williamson (2:01.11) qualifying equal third.

Women's 800m Freestyle |  Agostina Hein Seeking Rare Junior World Title for Argentina

The Women’s 800m Freestyle remains one of the most open fields in Netanya, with any of the eight swimmers in the fastest heat this evening a chance to take gold if able to deliver a personal best.

The three youngest swimmers in the fastest heat will occupy the middle of the pool this evening with Argentina’s Agostina Hein (8:29.62), China’s Yihan Mao (8:30.00), and United States of America’s Kayla Han (8:32.88) the top three seeds going into the final.

For Hein the 800m Freestyle presents a rare opportunity to deliver a World Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships gold medal for the South American nation which has only won two junior world titles across nine editions of the championships.

Interestingly their most recent success was also in this event, with Delfina Pignatiello winning the Women’s 800m Freestyle in Indianapolis in 2017 in what at the time was both a South American Record and a Championship Record.

The 800m Freestyle is a timed final with the fastest heat swum in the finals session and the remaining four heats swum this morning. Times across the five heats are collated for the awarding of medals so a swimmer can win gold from the morning heats should they record the fastest time overall in the event.

Mixed 4x100m Medley Relay |  Can United States make it three from three in Netanya relays?

Night one in Netanya provided two relay races for the ages as the United States of America held off the fast-finishing Australians in both the Men’s 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay and Women’s 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay.

This morning the United States of America (3:50.52) were again flexing their muscle with their Mixed 4 x 100m Medley Relay qualifying fastest for tonight’s final ahead of Japan (3:52.19) and Italy (3:53.13). As last night proved though plenty will come down to team changes and final relay selections. Will the USA again be bold and let a 16 year-old anchor as they’re two from two when doing so!

Day 2 | Finals Session