Australia’s Flynn Southam also proved why he is one of the best junior swimmers in the world, and the United States of America continued their clean sweep of the relay events.

Men's 200m Freestyle |  The Southam Show

Flynn Southam showed tonight why he’s recognised as one of the best junior swimmers in the world by delivering a standout performance in the Men’s 200m Freestyle. The 18 year-old has been on the road racing for the best part of five months, travelling to Australia’s Gold Coast for the Australian Age Championships in April, Melbourne for the National Trials in June, Fukuoka for the World Aquatics Championships in July, and now onto Israel for his first World Junior Swimming Championships.

The fact he’s been up racing at peak performance for such an extended time makes his gold medal-winning time tonight (1:46.57) even more impressive. It is just 0.33 seconds off his all-time personal best and less than half a second off David Popovici’s Championship Record.

While Southam was too strong for the rest of the field the real race was on for the minor placings. Italy’s Alessandro Ragaini (1:47.28) turned sixth at the halfway mark but delivered the fastest backend of the race to win silver, while Australia’s Anders McAlpine (1:47.94) also swam over the top of the field to go from eighth to third over the final fifty to win bronze.

Women's 200m Butterfly |  Pudar puts on a show and claims a Championship Record in the process

One of the best-credentialed swimmers competing here in Netanya has added a World Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships gold medal to her growing international medal collection. Lana Pudar burst onto the senior scene at the World Aquatics Championships (25m) in Abu Dhabi in 2021, winning bronze in the 200m Butterfly and becoming Bosnia and Herzegovina’s first medallist at a World Aquatics Championships.

With so much senior team experience under her belt, including an appearance at the Olympic Games in 2021, it was only fitting that Pudar at her first and last World Junior Championships put on a show for the crowd at the Wingate Institute in Netanya by delivering a Championship Record (2:07.20) and the junior world title in the process.

Australia’s Bella Grant (2:08.97) swam another career-best time in the final to win silver, while Italy’s Paola Borrelli (2:10.89) replicated her bronze medal win in Lima last year.

Men's 200m IM | A Championship Record for a star in the making

The Maximus Williamson show rolls on in Netanya with the just-turned-year-old adding an individual world junior title to his relay title from night one. Last night it was his freestyle that stole the show. Tonight he let all four strokes do the talking to take Tomoyuki Matsushita‘s Championship Record set in this morning’s heats. Williamson went 1:57.29 to finish ahead of teammate Daniel Diehl (1:58.62) and Canada’s Lorne Wigginton (1:59.44).

Williamson told World Aquatics after his race that he was thoroughly enjoying his time in Netanya and being a part of ‘Team USA’.

“I’m happy with that swim and happy to be here it’s a real honour,” said Williamson.

“I thought I could be a little bit faster, but I was here to race and always love racing. It’s always fun.” 

Women's 800m Freestyle |  Fifteen-year-old Kayla Han announces herself to the world

The United States of America’s Kayla Han is the new junior world champion, clocking a career-first ‘sub 8:30’ time to win gold in the Women’s 800m Freestyle. Han moved into the lead just after the halfway mark of the race and extended that margin to a full four seconds at the finish line to touch in 8:29.66 ahead of China’s Yihan Mao (8:33.66) and Argentina’s Agostina Hein (8:33.90).

Han could hardly control her excitement on pool deck after the race showing no signs of a swimmer that had just powered her way through sixteen laps of racing.

“This is like a dream come true and doing it with ‘Team USA’ means so much to me,” said Han.

 “I’m so happy to bring another gold to the table.”

Men's 100m Breaststroke  |  Chen goes from sixth to first to win USA’s first-ever 100m Breaststroke junior world title

Joshua Chen (1:00.70) has become the United States of America’s first-ever Men’s 100m Breaststroke junior world champion, stunning the field with a come-from-behind victory that wasn’t secured until the final metre of the race. Chen turned in sixth at halfway but delivered a 31.59 over the last lap to take gold.

“I just really cranked it that last 25m, built on my stroke rate, and I was able to chase those guys,” Chen told the Netanya crowd after his race.

Japan’s Yamoto Okadome (1:01.20), who went into the final with the fastest personal-best in the field, took the silver from lane two, while the United States of America’s Watson Nguyen (1:01.22) won bronze.

Women's 100m Backstroke  |  A surprise one-two for Australia’s backstroke girls

Australia’s dominance in the female backstroke events has rolled on from Fukuoka to Netanya, with Jaclyn Barclay (59.47) and Iona Anderson (59.88) delivering a one-two result for the Aussies on night two of competition. A one-two had been expected in this event tonight, but most thought it would be for the United States of America based on the semi final results. It wasn’t to be for Team USA with Erika Pelaez (59.94) third and Teagan O’Dell (1:00.07) outside the medals in fourth.

Men's 100m Backstroke | Zheltiakov saves his best for when it matters most 

Ukraine are on the board in Netanya with Oleksandr Zheltiakov leaving his run at the world junior title to the final lap on his third and final 100m Backstroke swim. Zheltiakov went through second in the heats, third in the semis, and was third on the wall at the 50m turn in the final behind Czechia’s Miroslav Knedla and Argentina’s Ulises Saravia.

But the Ukrainian found a second gear over the final thirty metres, passing both swimmers to touch first in a career-best time of 53.73. Knedla (54.01) held on for second while Italy’s Christian Bacico (54.08) clocked the fastest final lap of the race to move from fifth to third.

Women's 50m Breaststroke | Jefimova wins a first World Juniors medal for Estonia

Estonia’s Eneli Jefimova (30.42) has won her country’s first gold medal at a World Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships, fighting off a challenge from New Zealand’s Monique Wieruszowski (30.68) over the final ten metres to claim the junior world title. The United States of America’s Piper Enge (30.74) touched in third, picking the perfect time to deliver the first ‘sub 31’ time of her career.

Mixed 4x100m Medley Relay |  United States continue relay clean sweep

The United States of America’s dominance in the relay events continued this evening at the Wingate Institute, with the Mixed 4 x 100m Medley Relay team of Teagan O’Dell, Watson Nguyen, Leah Shackley and Maximus Williamson too strong for the rest of the field.

Making the win even better was the tenacity shown by team members Teagan O’Dell and Watson Nguyen who put the disappointment of individual events earlier in the evening behind them to deliver truly exceptional swims.

O’Dell went 59.51 in the lead backstroke leg, just 0.04 outside Jaclyn Barclay’s winning time in the 100m Backstroke an hour earlier, while Watson went 1:00.66, a time faster than the individual wining time in the 100m Breaststroke - albeit with a flying start.

The uniqueness of the mixed relay event meant the race was still there for the taking going into the final leg with Italy having touched first at all three changeovers.

Enter Maximus Williamson. The now three-time World Junior Swimming Championships gold medallist took the USA from sixth to first, clocking a 47.74 to put almost four seconds on the rest of the field by the time he hit the wall. To put this swim into perspective, in Fukuoka, the USA’s bronze medal winning 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay team all swam either 47’s or 48’s. Maximus is clearly a man on a mission, and everyone in Netanya is well and truly along for the ride.

Australia claimed their third straight relay silver medal (3:49.18), while Italy (3:50.09) managed to hang on for bronze.

Medal Tally

View the Medal Tally After Two Days of Competition