PIETERMARITZBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – AUGUST 10: Lara Van Niekerk in the 50m Women SC Breaststroke during day 1 of the 2017 SA Short Course National Championships at GC Joliffe Pool on August 10, 2017 in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. (Photo by Steve Haag/Gallo Images)
At the 7th FINA World Junior Swimming Championships in Budapest on Wednesday, Lara van Niekerk just missed out on a medal in the final of the 50m breaststroke when she finished 4th in 31.12, while Dune Coetzee was 8th in the 200m butterfly final in 2:13.06.
Aimee Canny booked herself a place in the final of the 100m freestyle after concluding tonight’s semi-finals in 4th place, clocking 54.87, while Hannah Robertson ended the heats of the event in 55th place in 58.58 and later finished the 800m freestyle in 21st position in 9:08.31 ahead of Tori Oliver in 9:33.11.
In the heats of the 200m individual medley, Matthew Sates and Luca Holtzhausen finished 20th and 27th in 2:05.01 and 2:06.68, respectively, while Sates also participated in the 100m butterfly where he concluded 29th in 55.23 to Ethan du Preez’s 28th place time of 55.15.
Holtzhausen also swam the 200m freestyle and finished 37th in 1:54.51 behind Matthew Bosch, who came 24th in 1:52.17, while Du Preez, Pieter Coetze, Rebecca Meder and Canny touched the wall in 15th place in the 4 x 100m mixed medley relay, clocking 4:04.79.
Supplied by Swimming South Africa
Michael Houlie of South Africa winning Gold during the Men’s 50m Breaststroke on day 6 of Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium on October 12, 2018 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Image: Anton Geyser/Gallo Images
The South African swimming team opened the aquatics programme of the 12th African Games in a spectacular fashion, claiming ten medals (six gold, two silver and two bronze) in Rabat, Morocco tonight.
Michael Houlie kicked off the evening session with a gold medal winning performance in the 50m breaststroke, posting 27.41 ahead of Egypt’s Youssef Elkamash in 27.52 and Tunisia’s Wassim Elloumi in 28.27.
Martin Binedell won himself a gold medal in the 200m backstroke with a time of 2:01.38 followed by Algeria’s Abdellah Ardjoune in 2:02.73 and Egypt’s Yassin Elshamaa in 2:05.77.
Binedell bagged his second gold as part of the 4 x 100m freestyle relay team with Douglas Erasmus, Brad Tandy and Ryan Coetzee when they finished in 3:21.63.
There was no stopping Erin Gallagher as she sped to the finish line of the 100m freestyle in 55.13, while team-mate Emma Chelius scooped the bronze in 55.86. The silver went to Egypt’s Farida Osman in 55.62.
Gallagher and Chelius were also a part of the gold medal winning 4 x 100m freestyle relay team, alongside Jessica Whelan and Kerryn Herbst, where the ladies’ topped the podium in 3:48.88.
Kaylene Corbett and Christin Mundell were the gold and silver duo in the 50m breaststroke, touching the wall in 32.20 and 32.70, respectively, with the bronze medal going to Zambia’s Tilka Palik in 32.92.
In the 1500m freestyle, Samantha Randle and Carla Antonopoulos grabbed the silver and bronze in 17:11.07 and 17:22.15, while the top spot was claimed by Egypt’s Hania Moro in 17:06.71. Randle finished 2nd in the women’s 200m backstroke final in 2:15.50 and Lewthu Mbatha 7th in 2:32.15
Supplied by Swimming South Africa
Team US switched to the usual top gear and amassed ten medals on Day 2 at the FINA World Junior Swimming Championships in Budapest. The young Americans grabbed four titles and had a podium finish in eight of the nine finals (4-2-4), and set a new junior WR in the mixed medley relay. Italy enjoyed a fine afternoon with two victories, Russia had four medals and Canada also got three, one of each colour.
The day kicked off with a re-match between Italy’s Thomas Ceccon and Russia’s Nikolai Zuev who staged a fine duel at the junior Europeans in Kazan seven weeks ago, back then Ceccon won by 0.27sec. Now both of them came much faster, went deep into the 53s but the Italian managed to save 0.13sec of his advantage till the end and further improved his Championship Record (53.46).
Next came a duel of the nations in the women’s 200m fly – it turned out to be a USA v HUN fight, both teams had two finalists and they shared the top four spots. Lillie Nordman had a brilliant second 100, both her splits were 32.8s while her closest rivals could clock 33.1-33.3s. Home favourite Blanka Berecz, champion in the last two editions of the junior Europeans, offered an outstanding homecoming leg to clinch the silver, 0.07sec ahead of the other American Charlotte Hook, while Fanni Fabian (HUN) came a further second adrift.
The US flag stayed in the middle for the next ceremony as Luca Urlando seemed to be a cut above the rest for most of the race in the men’s 200m free. At the end, however, it was just about the touch and some luck. Sweden’s Robin Hanson looked to catch him up at the end on lane 8 but he trailed by 0.06sec at the end. In fact, faith played for a tie here: the European champion barely made the final, by 0.04sec – so he was lucky in the heats, but did not deserve an ‘extra gift’ in the afternoon. The battle for the bronze was no less thrilling, three hit the wall in a span of 0.08sec, Brazil’s Murilo Stein Sartori was the fastest among them to finish third, much to the joy of the loud Brazil coaching team on the stands.
After the back-to-back US golds, Italy ‘equalised’ for 2-2 – it was as clean as it could be since Benedetta Pilato was no match for the others. She had clinched her nation’s first ever medal in female breaststroke events at the FINA World Championships in Gwangju – and her win was never in danger here.
Among the male breaststrokers, Vladimir Gerasimenko was just 0.09sec away from making the 50-100m double at the junior Europeans in July, he won the dash but had to settle for a shared bronze in 100m. Now he was back, and stunned the field on lane 7 by keeping his lead from the beginning to the end – then paraded his bisceps while sitting on the ropes; his was rightfully proud of those engines which kept the two US finalists at bay.
The new queen of the women’s backstroke Regan Smith would be eligible to race here but understandably the US star enjoys some well deserved rest after her outstanding showing in Gwangju (bringing down the ‘big’ WRs both in the 100m and 200m). With the American being away, the door was wide open and Canada’s Jade Hannah was the fastest to cross it as she offered the only sub-1min swim in the final.
Carson Foster already showed that he was on fire when he anchored the US 4x100m free relay to gold on the opening day and now he proved his versatility by winning the 200m IM by a mile and also set a new CR (1.58.46).
Lani Pallister opened Australia’s golden account, she left everyone behind over the first 300m and only swam against the clock while leading by 7-8 metres in the second half of the race. She established a new CR (8:22.49) and almost gained full 5sec on Japanese runner-up Miyu Namba (that was the only final without a US swimmer on the podium).
The 4th US title in the session was bagged in the mixed relay and the quartet finished the American gold rush in style, by setting a new junior World Record. It was US all the way, right from the beginning, only the battle for the silver was extremely tight, at the end the Russians out-touched the Canadians by 0.14sec. The latter two nations enjoyed a fine day too, the Russians claimed four medals (1-2-1) and the Canadians one of each colour – but plenty more are up for grabs in the remaining four days.
Gergely Csurka, FINA Media Committee
Major swimming meets in the Duna Arena cannot be anything but thrillers and thanks to Gabor Zombori the FINA World Junior Swimming Championships took a flying start as the Hungarian 16 year-old stunned even himself by claiming the first gold of the meet in the 400m free. It was already big time, thanks to 2,000 fans so quickly came the first junior WR of the meet, courtesy of Alba Vazquez Ruiz in the 400m IM, followed by the second, set by the USA, in the men’s 4x100m free relay. The US also won the women’s 4x200m free relay.
If anyone doubted whether the electrifying atmosphere of the memorable 2017 FINA World Championships could be recalled at a junior event at the legacy-mood Duna Arena in Budapest two years later, the answer arrived right at the start of the afternoon session of the opening day.
It took less than four minutes to see the stands erupting as local hero Gabor Zombori stunned everyone once again, including himself, by winning the 400m free at the beginning. More than two thousand fans yelled from the tribune as the 16 year-old copied his morning swim and left the pack behind after 50m and kept the lead till the end.
Gabor Zombori even stunned himself with this victory – Credits: Aniko Kovacs
This event was meant to be a warm-up for him as he is focusing on the 200m events (free and back), instead he clocked a stunner, 3:46.97 in the heats, beating Aussie Mac Horton’s Championship Record from 2013. It was so out of the blue that unlike his seven rivals in the final, he had to swim in the 4x100m free relay as the anchor man since no one expected him making the final, let alone qualifying in the first place (and he didn’t want to spoil the other three team-mates’ day as no substitute was allowed at that stage so only the withdrawal would have been the other option).
But even if choosing that rockier path, he was back four hours later and managed to find some more speed though this time Australia’s Thomas Neill pushed him much harder. At the 300m turn only 0.04sec separated them but the Magyar withstood the pressure and improved his CR to 3.46.06 with a 0.21sec winning margin.
The party was kicked in and soon even more thrills followed. The women’s 400m IM also promised something extraordinary after the heats saw a balanced field. And it was a brilliant final indeed with the lead constantly changing. Alba Vazquez Ruiz was travelling in the third place till the 250m turn, then she changed gear over the breaststroke leg and rushed away from the others.
Alba Vazquez Ruiz was obviously happy after her junior WR swim
Isabel Gormley (USA) and Michaella Glenister (GBR) tried to chase her but Vazquez Ruiz didn’t let it slip from her hands, though the pace brought its fruits as she set the first Junior World Record of the meet (4:38.53).
Soon came the second, as the men’s 4x100m free relay produced an astonishing race. Italy led at the halfway mark but Adam Chaney clocked a brilliant 48.64 in the third leg and that set up their victory. Though Russian torpedo Andrei Minakov clocked 47.82 in the homecoming leg, he couldn’t bridge the gap, just managed to out-touch the Italians by 0.03sec to claim the silver while the US set a new WJR (3:15.80).
The US boys brought down the junior WR – though the gold was their real award
The last gold on offer also landed in the US, their women’s 4x200m free relay followed a similar pathway to the top, they were second at the halfway mark behind the Aussies but the took over the lead in the third leg and by the end they built a massive 2.38sec gap to bag this gold too. The Aussies kept the silver why Russia lost the bronze through disqualification – as it turned out, a false start already decided their faith so the bronze went to the title-holder Canadians.
All smiles – the podium of the women’s relay
Cameron Williams won one individual and two relay silver medals at this year’s European Youth Summer Olympic Festival (BBC Sport)
Few people in world sport can claim to be as dominant as Adam Peaty.
The British breaststroker is unbeaten in five years over 100m in major competitions, is well over a second faster than any of his rivals and has broken the world record five times.
But a 15-year-old from Plymouth could be on his way to emulating the great man.
“He’s a role model, an inspiration, I want to be like him,” says Cameron Williams.
The swimmer from the Dartmoor Darts club in Devon has just broken the British junior 100m breaststroke record for 15-year-olds, and also holds the record for ages 13 and 14.
That makes him faster at his age than Peaty, Britain’s current world silver medallist James Wilby or any of Great Britain’s great breaststrokers of the past like Adrian Moorhouse or Duncan Goodhew who, like Peaty, have won Olympic gold.
“I feel like I’m heading in the right direction,” adds Williams, who broke his latest record as he won silver at the European Youth Summer Olympic Festival in Baku last month.
“It feels like all the hard work I’m putting into the sport is paying off, it’s a great feeling.”
Williams is not your average swimmer. He is coached by his uncle, Matthew Henry, at the Dartmoor Darts club and trains in the evenings rather than the stereotypical early-morning starts that come to define the lives of most top swimmers.
“It’s better for us and more enjoyable. But it’s not as impressive when you say you’re a swimmer but you don’t really do the mornings. I can’t say I wake up at five to go swimming,” he says with a smile.
But what he does do in the evenings clearly pays off. His time of 1:03.15 in the final in Baku shaved a hundredth of a second off the best ever time by a British 15-year-old.
‘He will be able to do something great’
While the British junior records are littered with stellar names, many who have broken junior marks have never gone on to make a name at a global level – Peaty’s only British junior records are for 18-year-olds.
“There are people in swimming who develop early and are very good young and then don’t necessarily make it, but you also see people who develop young and go all the way to the top,” explains Henry.
“I feel that Cameron still has many areas where he can improve, I’m not concerned about him not being able to make it; I genuinely think he’s got a chance because there’s so many areas for improvement to come.
“You’ve got to constantly look to be better all the time, otherwise you will stagnate and stand still and everyone else will go past you.
“We’re aware of that, we’re constantly looking for those improvements and we know people are chasing Cameron.”
While some are chasing Williams, everyone is chasing Peaty – the first man to go under 57 seconds for the 100m breaststroke. And in a time more than six seconds quicker than Williams’ best.
“It’s a massive bar to try and reach, but that is the end goal and I genuinely think Cameron is capable of doing it,” says his coach.
So will he be the next Adam Peaty?
“I’d much prefer to call him the first Cameron Williams,” Henry adds.
“He is his own man and he will be able to do something great in swimming, I have no doubt. Whether it’s beating Adam Peaty or not I’m not sure yet, but it’s the goal.”
Dryland training is an essential aspect of competitive swimming that helps build additional strength, flexibility, and prehab through specific exercises, which results in improved performance in the pool.
Although every team’s dryland training varies, the focus for these exercises is the same. The goal of dryland training is to develop the core, increase overall muscle tone, and progress in areas of weakness to help maintain a stronger and more defined stroke when swimming.
Mike Novell, Fort Collins Area Swim Team head coach said, “We build an athletic development progression that reflects the time of the swimming season and periodization of the swimming plan.”
Here are some excellent exercises FAST uses throughout the summer season to really support their long course training in the pool. Novell said none of this was invented by him, but stolen from many great coaches over time.
1. Scapular pushups/scapular pull-ups/scapular rows/scapular dips
“This helps create well-rounded shoulder strength and mobility. I feel it really helps prevent injury in the long term because athletes learn to activate and use their shoulder joint more efficiently. It helps with the increase in stroke count involved with long course training. We really like doing this type of work early in the season, but we rely on it year round.”
2. Weighted step-up
“To build strength endurance in the legs and promote the kicking involved with fast long course swimming, we use weighted step-ups within our leg circuits. The move is quick and powerful and can be worked in with other legwork on a very fast tempo that really challenges a swimmer’s aerobic capacity as well.”
3. Crawling
“We really crawl year-round, but bear crawl, crab walk, plank walk help with coordination, core stability, and shoulder health. Crawling can be done natural or at an incline to increase the difficulty, and is extremely valuable for swimmers of all ages. Crawling is also a great wetland workout for days where you want to mix it up a bit. We typically do surf and turf workouts on long course Saturday workouts to really round out the week.”
4. Med ball throws
“We do a variety of med ball slams and throws during the LC season to help maintain the power during heavy long course water work. I believe it contrasts the water workout and lets swimmers feel explosive, which is sometimes something that lacks during the higher volumes of swimming associated with the LC season.”
Dryland training is a vital component in taking your swimming to the next level. The exercises can vary depending on the age group as well as whether you are a sprinter or long distance swimmer. The most important aspect is that your team customizes the dryland training to meet your competitive swimming needs so you can reach your fullest potential in the pool.
Jake Magahey (USA Swimming)
The United States won three medals – two gold and a silver – Tuesday to open the 7th FINA World Junior Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
The two gold medals came in the relays, with Jake Magahey, Luca Urlando, Adam Chaney and Carson Foster taking the men’s 400m free relay in 3:15.80, a world junior record. The former mark stood at 3:16.96, set by Australia in Dubai in 2013.
Finishing second behind the Americans were Russia in 3:16.26 and Italy in 3:16.29.
“The first night you always want to get the ball rolling, really set the momentum for the rest of the meet, and we know how important that relay is to the U.S., so to come out with a gold, and on top of that world junior record, is super exciting,” Foster said.
Then Lillie Nordman, Erin Gemmell, Juntina Kozan and Claire Tuggle won gold in the women’s 800m free relay in 7:55.49. They touched the wall more than two seconds ahead of the rest of the field. Australia was second in 7:57.87, while Canada was third in 8:01.14.
“It felt amazing,” Gemmell said. “Being with three other people while you win is so much better, I think, than being alone because you have all these people you’ve done it with and then you get to stand up there with those people instead of just alone. It’s just an amazing experience.”
Isabel Gormley won the United States’ third medal, a silver in the women’s 400m IM. Gormley turned in a personal best of 4:39.15, dropping almost five seconds from her previous best time of 4:44.01 in prelims. Alba Ruiz of Spain was first in 4:38.53. Michaella Glenister of Great Britain was third in 4:39.35. Gormley’s American teammate, Grace Sheble, finished seventh in 4:45.41.
“I had no expectations,” Gormley said. “I really wanted to medal tonight, but I had no idea I was going to drop five seconds. That was amazing. Such an amazing race to go with (Ruiz). She was amazing to race, but I’m really happy right now. This has been the best meet of my life, and it’s only day one. It’s my last race, but I could not be happier and I’m really excited to see what everyone else does this week.”
Other finalists for the U.S. on day 1 were Jake Mitchell, who finished fourth in the men’s 400m free in 3:47.95, and Jake Magahey, who finished eighth in the men’s 400m free in 3:51.19.
Off to a good start: The Women’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay claims silver. (Swimming Australia)
Australia’s junior team have kicked started their campaign at the Duna Arena in Budapest, after claiming two silver medals on the first night of the 2019 World Junior Swimming Championships.
Rackley’s Thomas Neill opened Australia’s medal account in the maiden event of the night – the Men’s 400m Freestyle – snaring silver in a personal best time 3:46.27. Firing up the team’s vocal cords, Neill battled hard to the finish line against local Gabor Zombori, but couldn’t quite catch the Hungarian, who took the gold in a championship record time of 3:46.06. Russian swimmer Aleksandr Egorov won the bronze (3.47.36).
The Women’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay also added silverware to the Aussie’s tally on the opening night, taking home silver in 7:57.87. Qualifying in second spot heading into the final, the team finished narrowly behind the USA who recorded 7:55.49. Lani Pallister led the team from the start (1.58.61), followed by Michaela Ryan (1.59.11) and Rebecca Jacobson (2.00.71), who held the team strong, while Jenna Forrester (1.59.44) brought the team home. The Canadians finished third in 8:01.14.
St Peters Western’s Mollie O’Callaghan scored herself a lane in tomorrow night’s Women’s 100m Backstroke final after comfortably qualifying as the third fastest swimmer in 1:00.29 and smashing her personal best. Bronte Job finished 13th overall in the semi-finals in 1:02.28 and just short of the final top eight.
Neill backed up from his silver medal swim in the 400m freestyle earlier in the program to anchor the Men’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay. The team, also comprising of lead swimmer Angus McDonald (51.04), Alex Quach (49.35) and Edwards-Smith (50.67), placed 6th overall. Posting an overall time of 3:20.48, they were around 4.5 seconds behind gold medallists, the USA (3:15.80). Russia (3:16.26) and Italy 3:16.29, placed second and third respectively.
Other Aussie Results:
Men’s 400m Freestyle – Brisbane Grammar’s Alexander Grant (3:53.15) finished 15th overall in the morning heat session.
Women’s 50m Breaststroke – Georgia Powell swam a 31.84 to finish in 9th position overall in the semi-finals, while Tara Kinder (33.20) placed 25th overall in the heats.
Men’s 100m Backstroke – Joshua Edwards-Smith placed 13th in the semi-finals (55.37), while Kalani Ireland finished 16th after his semi-final swim (55.90). Both falling outside the top eight for the final tomorrow.
Women’s 400 Individual Medley – Jenna Forrester narrowly missed the final placing 9th overall in 4:48.22, while Charli Brown was close behind finishing 11th overall in 4:51.01.
Men’s 100m Breaststroke – Joshua Yong (1:02.67) placed 17th overall and Cameron Jordan (1:03.23) finished 24th overall in the heats.
(Twitter)
Emma O’Croinin and her teammates didn’t feel any pressure.
Their poise led them to a bronze-medal performance during the opening day of action at the FINA World Junior Swimming Championships in Budapest, the capital city of Hungary.
O’Croinin, a 16-year-old Edmonton native, joined Brooklyn Douthwright, Katrina Bellio and Genevieve Sasseville to finish third in the women’s 4×200-metre freestyle relay, marking Canada’s first medal at the championships, which continue until Sunday.
O’Croinin said the Canadian foursome simply wanted to “try their best” and possibly record a podium finish.
“It was a good time (8:01.14) and I am really happy with the result,” said O’Croinin, who competes out of the Edmonton Keyano Swim Club. Her anchor leg of 1:57.95 was a lifetime best relay split. The only swimmer to break 1:58 in the event, O’Croinin brought Canada into third place from more than a second behind Germany.
“Everyone put in a real good time so we had a lot of fun together,” said O’Croinin, who already has a senior FINA World Championships bronze to her credit for her heat swim in the same event in Gwangju, South Korea, last month.
National Development Coach Ken McKinnon, the team leader at these championships, was impressed with the efforts of his swimmers, who arrived in Hungary last week.
“Our swimmers did a very good job and I was most impressed with the way they were calm and collected against difficult competition,” McKinnon said.
Meanwhile, Halifax native Jade Hannah won her 100-metre backstroke semifinal in a time of 59.97 seconds to advance to Wednesday’s final as the No. 1 seed.
The returning bronze medallist trains out of the Swimming Canada High Performance Centre – Victoria. She said she’s battled through some inconsistent swimming recently, but has “worked super hard” to keep improving.
“It was a lot of fun, especially getting the time down to 59 and I’ll be working even harder to get a little more off that time when I get to the final,” said Hannah, whose personal best of 59.62 came at the 2017 event in Indianapolis.
Meanwhile, Gabe Mastromatteo, of Kenora, Ont., advanced third from the men’s 100-m breaststroke semifinals. His time of 1:00.78 lowered his Canadian age group record for 15-17 year-olds.
“It was all right,” Mastromatteo said, “It was a decent time for the effort I put in. I am looking forward to the final (on Wednesday) to see how well I can do in that race.”
The men’s 4×100-m freestyle relay team of Josh Liendo, James Lebuke, Finlay Knox and Cole Pratt missed the podium by just over a second, finishing fourth in their final at 3:20.17.
Liendo lowered his 15-17 age group mark with a time of 49.53 in the relay team’s lead position.
Liendo, a Markham native who was celebrating his 17th birthday, said the team was pleased with its effort and performance and now their focus will turn to individual events for the rest of the week.
Cole Pratt picked up a seventh-place showing in the men’s 100m back semifinal and Tyler Wall was eighth.
Wall called the race “a good one, but the first 50 (metres) or so were pretty slow,” said the Penticton, B.C. native .
“Overall, I am happy to get in the final and I will be looking to get another good time.”
Avery Wiseman finished 12th in the women’s 50m breaststroke.
Full results: http://www.omegatiming.com/2019/7th-fina-world-junior-swimming-championships-live-results
Webcast link: https://www.finatv.live/
Sun Yang admonishes Duncan Scott for his podium protest. (Daily Telegraph)
The Court of Arbitration for Sport said on Tuesday it was postponing its hearing on the decision by FINA, the governing body of swimming, to clear Chinese star Sun Yang of doping.
Triple Olympic champion Sun Yang was accused of smashing a blood vial with a hammer during an out-of-competition doping test last year, but was in January cleared by FINA.
FINA agreed with Sun that testers had failed to produce adequate identification or follow correct protocol.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) responded by taking the case to CAS.
After escaping a ban, Sun was able to compete in the in the World Championships in Gwangju in July, where he won two golds but became a focus of protests from rivals.
In a statement released on Tuesday, CAS said the hearing had been provisionally scheduled for September “but due to unexpected personal circumstances, one of the parties was obliged to request a postponement of the hearing.”
The statement said the hearing was unlikely to be “before the end of October,” when it would probably be held in Switzerland.
CAS said that, “at the request of the parties involved”, the hearing would, unusually, be open to the public.
“This will be the second time in the history of CAS that a hearing is held in public,” CAS said.
The first hearing in public, in 1999, also involved FINA, which had found Irish swimmer Michelle Smith De Bruin guilty of doping. Smith requested an open hearing. CAS ruled for FINA, who had found that Smith had tried to dilute her urine sample with alcohol.
AFP
