2024 EUROPEAN JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Tuesday, July 2nd – Sunday, July 7th
- Prelims 10am local/Finals 6pm local
- Lazdynai Pool, Vilnius, Lithuania
- LCM (50m)
- Meet Central
- Entries
- Day 1 Prelims Recap/Day 1 Finals Recap
- Day 2 Prelims Recap
- Live Results
- Livestream ($)
Day 2 finals of the 2024 European Junior Championships are nearly upon us, with action beginning at 6pm local Lithuanian time.
Italy currently leads the medal table, courtesy of the boys’ and girls’ 4x100m free relays each topping the podium, but there is plenty of time for things to shift around over the next several days.
Already through the first night of competition, we’ve seen some storylines emerging that may continue to take form as the championships continue.
#1 Italian Boys Freestyle Arsenal on Display
As mentioned, the Italian boys’ 4x100m free relay was able to grab the gold with the foursome of Gabriele Valente (50.28), Carlos D’Ambrosio (48.48), Mirko Chiaversoli (49.07) and Lorenzo Ballarati (49.21) collectively clocking a time of 3:17.04.
That knocked nearly a second off the gold medal-worthy result of 3:17.87 Italy logged for gold in 2023.
D’Ambrosio’s split of 48.48 was by far the fastest of the field and well beneath his best-ever flat start of 49.13 registered at March’s Italian Championships.
Additionally, Italy was the only nation to place 2 boys in the final of the 200m freestyle.
Filippo Bertoni registered 1:49.58 to claim the 5th seed while Gabriele Valente nailed 1:50.21 as the 8th-seeded athlete. Both are within range of leader Kristupas Trepocka of Lithuania who led the pack in 1:48.59.
#2 Lithuania is Rising
On the senior circuit, we’re used to seeing the names of Ruta Meilutyte and Danas Rapsys reap the Lithuanian swimming headlines, however, there is some promising talent bubbling beneath the surface.
During day 1 prelims, Mantas Kauspedas fired off a new lifetime best and Lithuanian national record in the boys’ 50m backstroke.
Kauspedas logged a result of 24.95 to hit his first-ever performance under the 25-second barrier. Although his semi-final time was a tad slower at 25.06, he still holds a .30 advantage over the next-closest swimmer and the speed bodes well for his 100m later in the meet.
We mentioned that Trepocka enters tonight’s final of the boys’ 200m freestyle as the top seed, courtesy of the 1:48.59 he scored during last night’s semi-final.
That outing established a lifetime best, erasing his previous career-quickest effort of 1:49.13 put up in the prelims at last month’s senior European Championships.
Finally, Smilte Plytnykaite is a medal threat in the 50m breaststroke on the girls’ side.
Plytnykaite registered a semi-final outing of 31.59 to tie Italian Martina Fanunza as the 2nd seed behind leader Nayara Pineda Lopez (31.50) of Spain.
Plytnykaite’s swim hacked just under a second off the previous best-ever performance of her young career. Entering this competition, her PB reset at the 32.49 clocked just this past April in Kaunas.
#3 Under-the-Radar Record-Breaking Swims
Sarah Dumont posted a new Belgian national record in the girls’ 400m IM en route to snagging the silver last night.
Dumont scored a time of 4:42.44, crushing the previous Belgian standard of 4:45.35 she put on the books during May’s Mare Nostrum Tour.
Dumont also owns the national record in the 200m fly (2:09.92) which she will race later in this competition.
Also on the girls’ side, Great Britain’s Theodora Taylor wreaked havoc on the Welsh record book for sprint freestyle.
Taylor notched a time of 56.03 to establish a new Welsh junior record in the 100m free while her mark of 25.53 checked in as both the junior and senior Welsh record in the 50m free. She’s the 4th-seeded 50m freestyler heading into tonight’s main event.