World Jnrs Day 6: Finale of PBs in arguably the fastest Jnrs ever

THE bar has been raised!

After an action packed six days of racing, the World Junior Championships wrapped up in Romania early this morning (AEST) with a spread of medals across countries and increased depth in events.

There were a number of championship and world records set in Otopei – and for our Junior Dolphins a strong number of PBs – in arguably the fastest Junior Championships ever.

In another finals’ session of impressive racing, the Australian Dolphins continued their LA learnings. For many it was their first step up to an international final, against a full world field and in a buzzing 2400-seat stadium.

In this morning’s final session of racing, with eight different countries lining up across the eight lanes, Sydney-based Ben Cotroneo continued his fine form clocking yet another PB (49.24) in the men’s 100m free to finish sixth.

Italian Carlos D’Ambrosio claimed victory (47.88), Great Britain’s Jacob Mills grabbed silver medal (48.22), with Lithuania’s Tajus Juska taking bronze (48.72).

Cotroneo had led off the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay in both the heats and the final, putting together two of his three fastest 100s of all time, and then posted back-to-back PBs in his semi and then in the final.

In the women’s 4x100m medley relay, Zoe Ammundsen – in her 10^th swim of the meet – led off the Junior Dolphins off in the backstroke (1:00.98); followed by Hayley Mackinder (1:08.66), Jessica Cole (58.50) and Heli Childs (55.69) for Australia to claim 6^th.

Team USA defeated China and NAB to win gold in 3:59.85. Sixteen-year-old American Rylee Erisman anchored her team’s relay to touch first and win her third gold of the meet.

The World Juniors are a crucial stepping stone for young swimmers, providing a platform to gain experience at a major international event.

And Bond University’s Ainsley Trotter, 17, soaked up the experience to break through for the Dolphins’ only gold medal of the meet and continue Australia’s rich history in women’s backstroke.

Trotter did it in style – clocking 27.88, the same time she ripped to set a new an All-Comers’ age group record at the Australian Age Championships. The record was previously held by multiple Olympic gold medallist Mollie O’Callaghan.

For Trotter, it was a long-awaited breakthrough after narrowly missing national team selection in recent years and she was the only athlete to go under 28 seconds, touching the wall ahead of Korea’s Kim Seungwon (28.00) and Great Britain’s Blythe Kinsman (28.04).

Full results here.