Top 10 Women To Watch At 2019 European Junior Championships

2019 EUROPEAN JUNIOR SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Wednesday, July 3rd – Sunday, July 7th
• Aquatics Palace, Kazan, Russia
• LCM
• Meet Site
• Start Lists
• Live Stream

Even without the actual entry lists having been published on the official meet site as of yet, excitement and anticipation are growing immensely for the 2019 European Junior Swimming Championships. Taking place at the Aquatics Palace in Kazan, Russia, site of the 2015 World Championships, Europe’s emerging young stars will be vying for medals and records over the course of 5 days.

Last year’s edition of the European Junior Swimming Championships saw Russia dominate the overall medal table, as was the case back in 2017. Hungary finished runner-up last year, while Great Britain finished 3rd in the national medal table.

As a reminder, the age groups eligible for the competition are as follows:

• Men: 15 – 18 years by 31 December 2019
• Women: 14 – 17 years by 31 December 2019

With action on the horizon less than one week from today, in no particular order, here are SwimSwam’s 10 women to watch in Kazan. You can catch the men’s post here.

#1 Anastasiya Shkurdai, Belarus

16-year-old Anastasiya Shkurdai raced the meet of her life this past April at the Championships of Belarus, claiming 4 national titles. The teen posted a personal best of 25.87 in the 50m fly, falling just .03 shy of the Belarusian National Record set by Aliaksandra Herasimenia at 25.84 from way back in 2013. Entering the meet, Shkurdai’s previous personal best rested at the 26.62 she threw down for 50m fly silver in Jakarta last year at the Youth Olympic Games.

Shkurdai also nailed a winning 100m fly time of 57.78, another new personal best and the first sub-58 second time of her young career. Her 57.78 time also cleared the old Belarusian National Record of 58.09 set by Herasimenia back in 2012 at that year’s Spanish Championships in Malaga, Spain.

Finally, as a sign of her versatility, Shkurdai wreaked havoc on the 200m backstroke National Record as well, blasting the previous mark of 2:14.09 by setting a new standard at 2:10.58.

She’ll be taking on the aforementioned events, as well as the 50 back in Kazan.

#2 Benedetta Pilato, Italy

Just 14 years of age, Pilato will be representing her nation of Italy at both these European Junior Championships, as well as the World Championships later this month in Gwangju, Korea. The teen is making major strides in her bread-and-butter 50m breaststroke event, setting the National Junior Record at the Italian Championships in April, then stepping up to beat the Senior Record at the Sette Colli Trophy.

In April, Pilato put up a 50m breast time of 30.61 to qualify for Worlds, lowering her own previous junior standard of 31.02 established in February. Fast forward to Sette Colli and the teen fired off a monster time of 30.13 in the prelims to surpass the NR of 30.30 set by Arianna Castiglioni at the 2018 European Championships. Pilato followed up with a winning mark of 30.28, but did enough damage with her morning swim at Sette Colli to rank #3 in the world this season, only behind American Lilly King and Russian Yuliya Efimova.

Pilato also nailed a new Italian Junor Record in the 100m breast for good measure at Sette Colli, logging a new lifetime best of 1:08.74, a mark that would have finaled in Helsinki last year.

#3 Anastasia Gorbenko, Israel

Another teenager looking to make waves in Kazan is 15-year-old Israeli dynamo Anastasia Gorbenko, the newly-minted national record holder in the women’s 200m IM.

While competing at the Speedo Grand Challenge in Irvine, California last month, Gorbenko snapped a new Israeli national mark of 2:11.98, laying waste to her own previous national standard of 2:12.88 she established for gold at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games.

Gorbenko’s gold there in Buenos Aires represented Israel’s first international swimming title at that level of LCM swimming, with Israel only having won Short Course Swimming medals at the elite level.

She also produced a new national mark in Irvine in the women’s 200m breast, blasting a time of 2:28.78 to hack about half a second off of her own previous PB of 2:29.17 from semi-finals of last year’s European Junior Championships. Also competing in California Gorbenko posted a 1:10.04 in the 100m breast for silver, while she produced a PB in the 200m free in 2:00.83 to place 4th.

#4 Evgenia Chikunova, Russia

Rocking the Russian swimming world at their championships this past April, 14-year-old Evgenia Chikunova blasted a winning time of 2:22.67 to take 200m breaststroke gold, breaking the Russian Junior Record in the process. She not only qualified for these Euro Jrs, but also for the Senior World Championships in Gwangju, Korea.

Crushing the previous Russian junior record mark of 2:23.06 set by Mariia Astashkina at the 2015 European Games, Chikunova represented the youngest champion at this year’s national meet. Her time laid waste to her previous personal best of 2:32.20 clocked in May of 2018, but it also rendered Olympian Yuliya Efimova shut out of the Russian World championships roster in this event, with the megastar settling for 3rd place in the event.

Previously too young even to compete at the European Junior Championships or Youth Olympic Games, Chikunova is poised to introduce herself to the international swimming community on this European Junior Championships stage.

#5 Blanka Berecz, Hungary

A mainstay on the Hungarian junior swimming scene, 17-year-old Blanka Berecz is creeping up on even the senior world rankings in the women’s 200m fly, sitting just outside the world’s top 25 performers this season.

Berecz carries a season-best 2fly time of 2:09.90 into Kazan, the fastest of any 18&U woman in the world at this point. That already beats out the 2:10.37 it took the Hungarian to top the podium in Buenos Aires last year at the Youth Olympic Games. It also already outperforms the 2:10.06 she produced for gold at the 2018 European Junior Championships.

Holding those 2 elite international medals to her credit, the women’s 200m fly event is Berecz’s race to lose.

#6 Daria Vaskina, Russia

Another dangerous Russian comes in the form of Daria Vaskina, the 16-year-old who has been named to her nation’s roster both for these European Junior Championships as well as the Senior World Championships.

She is the reigning European Junior Champion in the women’s 50m and 100m backstroke events. She medaled in both of those events at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires as well, hitting gold in the 100m and silver behind Aussie Kaylee McKeown in the 50m back.

Most recently at the Russian National Championships, the teen fired off a 100m backstroke winning time of 59.46 to clock a new Russian Junior Record in the event. Both that mark and her 27.76 50m back from the same meet top the 17&U world rankings for the season entering Kazan.

#7  Giulia Salin, Italy

Italian Giulia Salin is hoping to improve upon her 2 individual bronze medals from last year’s edition of this meet. She earned 3rd place in both the 800m and 1500m freestyle events in respective times of 8:34.50 and 16:28.12.

At the Italian National Championships this past April, Salin made 3 finals, landing on the podium with the bronze in the 800m free in a time of 8:33.64.

Salin ranks as the top freestyler in the world for 17&U in the trifecta of 400m/800m/1500m free, holding season-bests of 4:12.99, the aforementioned 8:33.64 and 16:23.68, respectively. For perspective, her 800m and 1500m marks would position Salin within the top 20 American 15-16 age performers of all-time.

#8 Isabel Gose, Germany

Born in 2002, Isabel Gose is the youngest member of the German roster for the World Championships in Gwangju, but the teen is also set to compete here in Kazan.

Gose has been making a dent in the German record books, including a new 4:02.34 SCM 400 free age group record while competing at the 2018 Short Course National Championships. Her time would have finished 6th in the final of the Short Course World Championships, with the mark sitting as the 3rd fastest ever swum by a German.

Demonstrating her promising range, Gose is qualified to swim 4 events in Kazan, spanning the 50m, 100m, 200m and 400m freestyle races. Her season-best of 1:58.84 ranks as the top 200m free time in the world for 17&U heading into these championships. She will seek to defend her 200m free gold and 400m free silver from 2018’s edition.

#9 Tamryn Van Selm, Great Britain

15-year-old Tamryn Van Selm held her own against some of the nation’s best at the 2019 British Swimming Championships, making 2 senior finals. Van Selm finished 8th in the 50m free in a time of 26.02 and 8th in the 200m free in a time of 2:01.56. Her time of 55.66 in the 100m free stands as the 2nd fastest in the world this year among women 17&U.

Not resting on her laurels, Van Selm was one of the main attractions of the recently concluded Regional Summer Championships in London, taking home a collection of hardware. The teen snared age group gold across the 50m/100m/200m/400m/200m IM events, as well as silver in the 100m back to prep for these European Junior Championships.

#10 Kotryna Teterevkova, Lithuania

As a candidate to fill the very big shoes left by Olympic champion Ruta Meilutyte’s retirement, Kotryna Tetervkova has been showing her talents across several different events throughout her young career.

Last year at the European Junior Championships, Teterovkova took 100m breast gold and 200m breast bronze and combined that hardware with 100m breast bronze and 200m breast silver at the Youth Olympic Games.

She’s already been making a move on the 400m IM front as well, hitting a new Lithuanian Senior Record in the event just this month at the Lithuanian U-23 Championships. The teen fired off a lifetime best mark of 4:58.02 to clock the new senior record.

Teterevkva will also be representing Lithuania at the World Championships.