Otopeni 2025: Juska and Tuncelli are golden on day 3 of the World Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships
European swimmers once again stepped up to the top of the podium on day three at the World Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships as Lithuania’s Tajus Juska and Turkiye’s Kuzey Tuncelli claimed the men’s 100m butterfly and 800m freestyle titles respectively.
Juska, 16, added world junior gold to the European junior version he won in Samorin last month as he clocked 51.83 to hold off the challenge of Brazil’s Lucio De Paula Filho, who took silver in 52.01.
Britain’s European junior 50m butterfly champion Dean Fern – who also took European junior silver behind the Lithuanian in this event last month – claimed bronze in 52.33.
Tuncelli, 17, defending champion in the men’s 800 and 1500m events, retained the first of those titles impressively as he finished 01.82 clear of Japan’s Kazushi Imafuku in 7:46.52, with neutral athlete Grigorii Vekovishchev taking bronze in 7:50.04.
Britain’s 16-year-old Theodora Taylor, joint European junior silver medallist in the 50m freestyle, took bronze in the women’s 100m freestyle, clocking 54.20, with Rylee Erisman of the United States taking gold in a Championship record of 52,79 and silver going to her team-mate Lily G King in 54.19.
Taylor, who had earned bronze in the previous night’s mixed 4x100m medley, added another medal to her collection as Great Britain recorded 3:26.17 to take silver in the mixed 4x100m freestyle, where their other three swimmers were Gabriel Shepherd, Jacob Mills and Skye Carter.
Gold went to the United States in 3:26.03, with Italy earning bronze in 3:26.79, one place ahead of the neutral athletes team.
In the women 200m backstroke, neutral athlete Milana Stepanova won bronze in 2:09.99 in a race where Audrey Derivaux of the United States set a Championship record of 2:06.99 and her team-mate Charlotte Crush took silver in 2:07.83.
European swimmers topped qualifying for tomorrow’s women’s 100m breaststroke as Lithuania’s European 50m and 100m breaststroke champion Smilte Plytnykaite – silver medallist in last night’s race over the shorter distance – clocked 1:07.64 and Germany’s Lena Ludwig, European junior 200m butterfly champion, recorded 1:07.75.
Italy’s Daniele Del Signore was second fastest qualifier into tomorrow’s men’s 50m backstroke in 25.02 behind neutral athlete Georgii Iakovlev, in 24.58.
Fellow neutral athlete Mikhail Shcherbakov, winner of the men’s 200m IM the night before, was fourth fastest in 25.08 with Ireland’s John Shortt, already champion over 100m backstroke, claiming the eighth and last final spot in 25.36.
Mike Rowbottom for European Aquatics
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