Hungary topped the podium once again in the men’s race, this time through reigning European Junior Champion, Balint Kreisz. On the women’s side, a courageous race from Russia’s Kseniia Misharina saw her earning her first World Junior title.
Hungarians Balint Kreisz and Armand Marosszeki went 1-2 in the Boys' 16-17 yrs 7.5km; an exact repeat of their result in the same event at the European Junior Championships.
Having only recently been crowned winner while racing on home soil in Sukoró, Kreisz added a World Junior title to his collection today.
“I’m really happy,” he said after the race.
"It was a fantastic season for me and I want to thank my coaches and my family and congratulate my teammate Armand, I’m really happy"
Touching home 1.4 seconds behind him to claim the silver medal was his countrymate, Marosszeki.
“I’m happy to be on the podium” he said after the race. “Not just because it’s great but because after years of competing, you enjoy achieving something - it’s great to share it with Ballint.”
Bo Ling Claims Chinese Taipei’s First Open Water World Junior Medal
Bo Ling Su posted a gutsy swim to clinch bronze - his first international medal and Chinese Taipei's first medal at an Open Water World Junior Championships.
“I am very happy,” he said after the race. “I think, for me personally and for the whole team, winning this award has a commemorative significance because this is also my first international medal in this kind of competition.
"It's the first medal the team has ever won so far. Actually, I feel it’s quite unbelievable"
Su made a definitive move to the front of the race at the halfway point, and maintained a top five position from there.
Speaking on his tactics, he said: “I think the goal is that if I can keep in front all the time, it’s more helpful for securing the top position. Then, I would try to find ways to keep myself in front throughout.”
The race for medals was fluid throughout the entire race, with multiple lead changes and changing pack dynamics throughout.
Konstantinos Chourdakis was just edged out of the medals in what was an extremely close finish between third and fourth.
Chourdakis - a previous European Junior Champion in the 5km - touched 0.1 of a second behind Su (1:23:27.7), while the top five was rounded out by Poland’s Mieszko Nowacki (21:23:32.2).
Kseniia Misharina Uses Pool-Speed to Power to Gold
Russia’s Kseniia Misharina claimed her nation’s first gold of the competition in spectacular fashion in the Girls' 16-17 yrs 7.5km.
In a similar style of racing to what we saw from Ludovica Terlizzi in yesterday’s 10km, Mirashina took the race out hard right from the beginning.
She established a 20-second lead after the first lap - a gap that would grow to roughly 55 seconds by the halfway point.
As a result, Mirashina’s race was an entirely solo-effort; something which is exceptionally hard to do in open water racing.
A hard chase from the rest of the pack meant that lead would eventually diminish to less than ten seconds on the last lap, but Mirashina executed her race plan too well to be caught.
“Honestly, I am very happy, but the last lap…oh my god it was very difficult. But it was amazing, I am speechless.
"My plan was to go out hard because I have speed from the pool"
“Going out hard was my only chance, my pool speed is the main reason I was able to start faster.
“This is my first gold at the World Junior Championships, so I am very happy and I know my team is happy too!”
Mirashina is a former World Junior medallist in the pool and holds a silver and bronze medal from the 1500m and 800m Freestyle events at the 2025 World Junior Championships in Otopeni.
Her attention now turns to the 3km Knockout Sprint and Mixed 4x1500m Relay events.
Super Silver for Hansen
USA’s Brinkleigh Hansen is no stranger to international podiums and added a silver medal to her collection today in the Girls 16-17 yrs 7.5km.
A former World Junior champion from the 2024 edition in Alghero - her podium finish today felt a little extra special as it doubles as the first time her entire family have watched her race on the international stage.
“This was the first time my little brother and both my parents got to watch me compete internationally, so it was really special,” she said after the race.
"Being able to go over there and hug both of them and my little brother means the world - having their support really got me through that race"
Suffering from a concussion just two weeks ago meant that Hansen entered this race without completing her normal race preparation, but credited the team at Colorado for getting her race ready.
“I really haven't been able to build back and really do what I normally do, so that was really hard mentally.
“But the whole staff back in Colorado kept checking up on me and giving me so much support. I wouldn't have been here without them because of everything they do for me - they don't get enough credit.”
Hansen’s tactic going into the race was to stay calm, which she did by responding well to the significant early lead carved out by Misharina.
“Those girls are incredible, that was a crazy fast race - I thought they all executed their race plans really well.
“But I had to stay calm, I knew at the end if I could get myself around or on their feet, I could potentially get on that podium. I have good back end speed and that's what works for me. So that was me staying calm, waiting for my opportunity to go, and I did exactly that.”
Family Support Helps Galea Clinch Australia’s First Open Water World Junior Medal
For Olivia Galea, her bronze medal carries more weight than usual as it represents Australia’s first medal at an Open Water World Junior Championships.
The 16-year-old had not only the support of her team behind her in Santa Fe, but also her family, who made the long journey to Argentina to be with her this week.
Speaking after her race, Galea said:
"I feel really really good, that’s the first medal that Australian has ever won in the Open Water Juniors so I’m really proud to represent my country and be able to do it for me and my team"
“Definitely a lot of emotions, I’ve been wanting this for so long. My family is over there and they came all the way from Australia to watch me so I’m really happy.”
Cassandra Galea, Olivia’s older sister, is one of her family members supporting in Santa Fe this week, and added: “We're so incredibly proud of Olivia, the hard work that she's put in with the team and her coach.
“The team camaraderie is super strong. They've been training really hard, doing camps with Fernando [Head Coach]. We're over the moon and so excited.”
Action continues with the Men’s and Women’s 3km Knockout Sprint events, which will take place tomorrow at 10:00am and 12:00pm local time, respectively. You can keep up to do with the action via the live stream on the World Aquatics YouTube page.