Nowacki, who was fastest qualifier into the 200m final, battled hard with World Junior Record holder in this event, Shin Ohashi, who went out hard and was right on WJR pace at the halfway point.

The two pushed each other throughout, with Nowacki ultimately having the back-end speed to drive the race home. As well as being a Championship Record, Nowacki’s time is the third fastest in the year so far (top 2 sitting with Ohashi), and would have won him gold at this year’s World Championships in Singapore.

A tight race for bronze was won by USA’s Gabe Nunziata, who claimed his first ever individual World Junior medal in 2:09.70. Nunziata was fresh from the podium after helping Team USA to silver in the Mixed 4x100m Medley Relay earlier in the week.

Speaking after his win, Nowacki said: “I’m over the moon with that, I’ve come off a successful European Juniors so to back it up again, it’s amazing.

“I had a race plan and I stuck to as best as I could. I think I executed it pretty well considering it was a world championship final.

“I'm definitely a back-end swimmer, so I tried to push as hard as I could in that third 50, I could feel Shin coming up on me on that last length, so very happy to have touched first.”

Cheered on by his mum and girlfriend, the Millfield School swimmer - who is coached by Kieran Piper - is now looking ahead to the 50m breast tomorrow.

“I'd be over the moon for a PB. That would have been three PBs from me. I guess we’ll have to see.”

Pedersen ‘Stays Calm’ to Claim 50m Butterfly Gold

A clinical race by New Zealand’s Zoe Pedersen gained her her first World Junior title in the Women’s 50m Butterfly final (25.63); also marking her nation's first gold in Otopeni.

Pedersen’s time - which is a new personal best - also bumps her up the list of fastest times at World Junior Championship events, and sits in second behind only Rikako Ikee’s 2017 Championship Record time of 25.46.

Mizuki Hirai touched for silver in 25.66, just 0.03 behind the leader. Hirai, who was part of the winning Japanese 4x100m Mixed Medley Relay team, earned her first individual gold of these championships in this race, taking her tally of World Junior medals to six.

Martine Damborg of Denmark claimed her first World Junior podium by taking bronze in 25.80. The 18-year-old has an impressive 12 medals from previous European Junior Championships.

Pedersen said after her race: “This has been my dream for so long. It's so cool to finally be able to light up the blocks. I was at the last junior worlds and that’s been my goal ever since.

“I worked with my coach to stay calm and stick to my race plan, and I feel like I actually did that.”

Commenting on the rising talent emerging from New Zealand, she added: “There's so many more people to look up to now, other swimmers who are inspiring.

“The times just seem to get faster but I am inspired by Hazel Ouwehand who is another New Zealand 50 butterfly swimmer, she's just such an inspiration. I just made sure to stay calm and just enjoy the race. 
That is when I swim my fastest and clearly we can see that today.”

Double Gold in Men’s 50m Backstroke

Daniele Del Signore and Georgii Iakovlev couldn’t be separated in the Men’s 50m Backstroke, as they both touched for gold in exactly the same time of 24.91.

For Del Signore, it marks his first medal of the meet and his first time breaking the 25-second mark, while Iakovlev adds to the silver he won in the 100m edition. Rounding out the podium was Ireland’s John Shortt, who now holds two medals from this meet after winning gold in the 100m back on day two of competition.

Speaking on their joint win, Iakovlev said: “I'm so happy for the [tie] with him, we push each other. I'm happy because we are both world junior champions.”

Del Signore added: “I'm very happy about this race because this is the first time I’ve swam under 25 seconds. It's a best for me. I dedicated this race to my grandma and my grandfather and I have to thank my coach, my family, and all my friends that supported me.

“I'm happy to divide this gong with him, so I'm really glad, and I want to say thank you also to him because he pushed me every time to do my best.”

Plytnykaite Highlights Lithuania’s Breaststroke Pedigree

Smilte Plytnykaite of Lithuania won the Women’s 100m Breaststroke in dominant fashion in 1:06.86. Plytnykaite started to pull away from the field at the 25 metre point and looked the certain winner throughout after an equally strong second 50.

She bettered her result from the 50 (where she took silver) to top the podium, while it was Lena Ludwig of Germany who touched for silver in 1:07.60. Ludwig, who won silver in this event at this year’s European Junior Championships, downed her PB yet again, taking 0.15 off her time from the semifinals.

“I feel happy because it is my personal best, and the time is amazing,” she said after her win.

“I was just focused on doing my best, and I think I did it at this competition. It was a long season for me, so it was really hard, but I did it. I want to thank my parents because they are supporting me all the time. I'm just happy that I have them.”

Sua Moon stepped onto the podium in Otopeni for the first time, winning bronze in a new PB of 1:07.86; a time that is just 0.42 off Korea’s National record.

World Junior Gold and Record for Sheremet in 50 Free

Nikita Sheremet of Ukraine claimed gold in the Men’s 50m Freestyle with a time of 21.99. After equalling the World Junior Record in the semifinals (21.75), Sheremet was hot favourite going into the final, and was the only swimmer in the field to break the 22-second mark tonight.

His win marks Ukraine’s first gold medal of these championships, and speaking after his race, he explained how that feels: “I don’t have words right now but it is great that I am a junior world champion. I was a bit nervous before the start, but I won the race and this is, for me, good news.

“The title was really important to be the fastest junior. But I know that I can swim faster, like in the semifinals. I was thinking about this race and it was my hope to swim faster but my goal was winning this race and I did it.”

The top three fastest qualifiers in this race were exactly who featured on the podium, with Jacob Mills (GBR) securing silver in 22.02 and Italy’s Carlos D’Ambrosio touching for bronze in 22.14.

D’Ambrosio’s medal tally from World Junior Championships now stands at six, after he also won bronze with Italy in the Men’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay this evening.

Yang Does 400 - 800 Free Double

Teammates Peiqi Yang and Tiaoshan Yan stormed down the final 50 metres of the Women’s 400m Freestyle to make it a Chinese 1-2 on the podium. They posted the two quickest final splits in the field (30.28, 30.34), with Yang getting her hand to the wall first in a new Championship Record time of 4:05.38.

Yang now has three gold medals from Otopeni so far after winning the Women’s 800m Freestyle and the Women’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay alongside her People’s Republic of China teammates.

USA’s Kennedi Dobson had an incredibly strong race and was leading with 100 metres to go. The 18-year-old was just pipped at the end to touch for bronze in 4:06.66 - a huge PB from her previous best of 4:08.53.

Three Golds for Derivaux Puts Her on Top of Female Athlete Rankings

Audrey Derivaux cemented herself as a three-time Champion in Otopeni after a commanding performance in the Women’s 200m Individual Medley.

The American carved out a lead throughout the race, and ultimately pulled away on the freestyle leg to touch in 2:10.58. The 16-year-old, who now holds the 200m Fly, 200m Back, and 200m IM titles from this meet and is leading the female athlete rankings, now looks ahead to the 100m Butterfly; her final race.

Speaking after her win, she said: “This is my first World Aquatics meet, and I have three gold medals now, so that's pretty fun.

“I have the 100 fly tomorrow, so I have to focus on that.  I'm just really looking forward to the race itself and just going out after it. It's going to be a tight race. I'm racing my teammate Charlotte Crush too - she's an amazing swimmer, so it'll be fun to race her again.

The support and spirit of Team USA has been a common thread highlighted by its athletes throughout this meet, with Derivaux adding: “It’s been an amazing experience. Every time I walk out behind the blocks, I always hear this loud roar from the USA in the stands.

“It's just so fun having them with me. I'm not swimming alone in these races. I have the entire team with me and I feel like that's just a really special experience to be on this team.

“After the race there were so many kids by the side of the pool. They were giving me high fives and stuff. They were very cute.  It's amazing to have them all come and cheer for me. I love having them there to support me, and it's really sweet.”

Great Britain’s Amalie Smith was back on the podium again, taking 1.5 seconds off her PB to win silver from lane one in 2:11.07. Shuna Sasaki (JPN) matched her result in the 400m Medley to claim bronze in 2:11.84.

Neutral Athletes B Claim Another Relay Win

The final race of the session delivered yet another relay gold for Neutral Athlete B in the Men’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay. Having already set a World Junior Record in the 4x100m Freestyle Relay on day one of competition, the team were expected to be firmly in the mix for medals.

Their time of 7:10.39 was more than two seconds quicker than silver medal winners, Japan (7:12.47), who just out-touched the Italian’s who finished in third with 7:12.90.

Championship Record in 50 Back Semifinal

Korea’s National record holder, Kim Seungwon, opened this evening’s session with a bang with a new Championship Record time in the Women’s 50m Backstroke semifinals. Her time of 27.77 is just 0.06 off her PB, meaning there might be more to come in tomorrow’s final.

2025 European Junior Champion in this event, Blythe Kinsman (GBR), clocked 27.91 to qualify as second seed into the final, while Australia’s Ainsley Trotter goes in third in 27.94.

Also in the mix for tomorrow night’s final is USA’s Charlotte Crush, who is having an excellent meet after already winning gold and silver in the 100m and 200m backstroke, respectively.