Day two of the World Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships continued in the Wingate Institute in Netanya, Israel, where thirty-eight of America’s top junior swimmers are competing from September 4-9. Overall, more than 600 athletes and 100 national federations are gathered to compete at this showcase of the best young swimming talent in the world. 

Highlights of night two for the Americans include:

• Eight medal performances (four gold, one silver, and three bronze)
• One championship record
• Nine personal best times
• Three advancements to tomorrow’s finals

Men’s 200m Individual Medley – FINAL

1 – Maximus Williamson (Southlake, Texas/Lakeside Aquatic Club), 1:57.29*
2 – Daniel Diehl (Cumberland, Md./YMCA of Cumberland), 1:58.62
*championship record

Diehl on his performances: “I had an hour (after the 100 backstroke) to swim the 2 IM, did pretty good. Me and Max (Williamson) went 1-2, that’s my boy.”

Race Notes:

• Williamson’s performance broke Tomoyuki Matsushita’s (Japan) championship record swim from prelims by over a second. 
• The Men’s 200m Individual Medley marks the first 1-2 finals finish for the United States at this meet. 
• Williamson and Diehl both dropped over a second for new personal bests. 

Men’s 100m Breaststroke – FINAL

1 – Joshua Chen (Ames, Iowa/Texas Ford Aquatics), 1:00.70
3 – Watson Nguyen (Plano, Texas/Metroplex Aquatics), 1:01.22

Chen on his race: “I felt really good in warmup, and when I got my suit on, I was just cranking my pace. My stroke rate and everything felt really good, I was just excited to race. Especially with my teammate being in the same heat was awesome. It definitely pushed me a lot, I don’t think I would have been there if it wasn’t for Watson (Nguyen).”

Race Notes: 

• Chen earned a new personal best by almost a full second, besting his previous personal best set during semifinals.
• Nguyen shaved off another tenth for a new personal best. He dropped over a half second in semifinals. 

Women’s 800m Freestyle – FINAL

1 – Kayla Han (La Mirada, Calif. La Mirada Armada), 8:29.66
6 – Lynsey Bowen (Carmel, Ind./Carmel Swim Club), 8:39.37

Han on her gold medal performance: “It doesn’t feel real yet. I was definitely nervous going into the race because I really wanted to podium, but bringing gold to Team USA means so much to me.”

Race Notes:

• Han earned a new personal best by almost three seconds. 

Mixed 4x100m Medley Relay – FINAL 

1 – United States, 3:45.62
   Teagan O’Dell (Chino Hills, Calif./Mission Viejo Nadadores), 59.51
   Watson Nguyen (Plano, Texas/Metroplex Aquatics), 1:00.66
   Leah Shackley (Bedford, Penn. Blair Regional YMCA), 57.71
   Maximus Williamson (Southlake, Texas/Lakeside Aquatic Club), 47.74

Race Notes:

• O’Dell’s lead off swim earned her a new personal best by over two tenths. 

Women’s 100m Backstroke – FINAL

3 – Erika Pelaez (Hialeah, Fla./Eagle Aquatics), 59.94
4 – Teagan O’Dell (Chino Hills, Calif./Mission Viejo Nadadores), 1:00.07

Pelaez on her race: “I thought I had it on the first 50, but when I pushed off the wall I had so much more energy than I thought and I just went for it.”

Pelaez on her double: “It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, I was pretty happy with it. My legs felt fine and overall the race felt awesome.”

Race Notes: 

• Pelaez swam the exact same time in semifinals and finals, marking her second time breaking the 1:00 barrier. 

Women’s 50m Breaststroke – FINAL

3 – Piper Enge (Mercer Island, Wash./Bellevue Club Swim Team), 30.74

Enge on her podium performance: “This was so exciting. Any time I get to represent Team USA is an honor and all I want to do is get up on the podium and score as many points as I can. I’m super happy with that (swim). We have two more (breaststroke) races to go, and I’m super excited to see what I can do there.”

Race Notes: 

• Enge dropped over four tenths for a new personal best.

Men’s 100m Backstroke – FINAL

5 – Daniel Diehl (Cumberland, Md./YMCA of Cumberland), 54.37

Women’s 200m Butterfly – FINAL

6 – Hannah Bellard (Grosse Ile, Mich./Club Wolverine), 2:11.26
7 – Bailey Hartman (Danville, Calif./Crow Canyon Sharks), 2:11.67

Men’s 200m Freestyle – FINAL

7 – Cooper Lucas (Keller, Texas/Lakeside Aquatic Club), 1:48.53
8 – Jason Zhao (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mason Manta Rays), 1:48.68

Race Notes: 

• Lucas earned a new personal best by two tenths. 
• Zhao earned a new personal best by about half a second. 

Women’s 100m Freestyle – Semifinal

3 – Anna Moesch (Green Brook, N.J./Greater Somerset County YMCA), 54.41
4 – Erika Pelaez (Hialeah, Fla./Eagle Aquatics), 55.26

Men’s 100m Butterfly – Semifinal

10 – Jacob Wimberly (Prosper, Texas/Texas Ford Aquatics), 53.71

21st – Ethan Harrington (Palo Alto, Calif./Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics), 55.05

The competition continues through Saturday, September 9. A complete schedule of events can be found here. Prelims start each day at 2:30 a.m. ET (9:30 a.m. local) and finals start at 11 a.m. ET (6 p.m. local time).

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