Hungarians Balint Kreisz and Armand Marosszeki went 1-2 in the Boys’ 16-17 yrs 7.5km Open Water World Junior championships; an exact repeat of their result in the same event at the European Junior Championships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having only recently been crowned winner while racing on home soil in Sukor\u00f3, Kreisz added a World Junior title to his collection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Touching home 1.4 seconds behind him to claim the silver medal was his countrymate, Marosszeki.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m happy to be on the podium\u201d he said after the race. \u201cNot just because it\u2019s great but because after years of competing, you enjoy achieving something – it\u2019s great to share it with Ballint.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bo Ling Su posted a gutsy swim to clinch bronze – his first international medal and Chinese Taipei’s first medal at an Open Water World Junior Championships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am very happy,\u201d he said after the race. \u201cI think, for me personally and for the whole team, winning this award has a commemorative significance because this is also my first international medal in this kind of competition.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ling Su made a definitive move to the front of the race at the halfway point, and maintained a top five position from there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking on his tactics, he said: \u201cI think the goal is that if I can keep in front all the time, it\u2019s more helpful for securing the top position. Then, I would try to find ways to keep myself in front throughout.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The race for medals was fluid throughout the entire race, with multiple lead changes and changing pack dynamics throughout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Konstantinos Chourdakis was just edged out of the medals in what was an extremely close finish between third and fourth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chourdakis – a previous European Junior Champion in the 5km – touched 0.1 of a second behind Ling Su (1:23:27.7), while the top five was rounded out by Poland\u2019s Mieszko Nowacki (21:23:32.2).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russia\u2019s Kseniia Misharina claimed her nation\u2019s first gold of the competition in spectacular fashion in the Girls’ 16-17 yrs 7.5km.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a similar style of racing to what we saw from Ludovica Terlizzi in the 10km, Mirashina took the race out hard right from the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She established a 20-second lead after the first lap – a gap that would grow to roughly 55 seconds by the halfway point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a result, Mirashina\u2019s race was an entirely solo-effort; something which is exceptionally hard to do in open water racing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A hard chase from the rest of the pack meant that lead would eventually diminish to less than ten seconds on the last lap, but Mirashina executed her race plan too well to be caught.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHonestly, I am very happy, but the last lap\u2026oh my god it was very difficult. But it was amazing, I am speechless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGoing out hard was my only chance, my pool speed is the main reason I was able to start faster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is my first gold at the World Junior Championships, so I am very happy and I know my team is happy too!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mirashina is a former World Junior medallist in the pool and holds a silver and bronze medal from the 1500m and 800m Freestyle events at the 2025 World Junior Championships in Otopeni.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her attention now turns to the 3km Knockout Sprint and Mixed 4x1500m Relay events. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
USA\u2019s Brinkleigh Hansen is no stranger to international podiums and added a silver medal to her collection today in the Girls 16-17 yrs 7.5km.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A former World Junior champion from the 2024 edition in Alghero – her podium finish today felt a little extra special as it doubles as the first time her entire family have watched her race on the international stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis was the first time my little brother and both my parents got to watch me compete internationally, so it was really special,\u201d she said after the race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Suffering from a concussion just two weeks ago meant that Hansen entered this race without completing her normal race preparation, but credited the team at Colorado for getting her race ready.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI really haven’t been able to build back and really do what I normally do, so that was really hard mentally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut the whole staff back in Colorado kept checking up on me and giving me so much support. I wouldn’t have been here without them because of everything they do for me – they don’t get enough credit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hansen\u2019s tactic going into the race was to stay calm, which she did by responding well to the significant early lead carved out by Misharina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThose girls are incredible, that was a crazy fast race – I thought they all executed their race plans really well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut I had to stay calm, I knew at the end if I could get myself around or on their feet, I could potentially get on that podium. I have good back end speed and that’s what works for me. So that was me staying calm, waiting for my opportunity to go, and I did exactly that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Olivia Galea, her bronze medal carries more weight than usual as it represents Australia\u2019s first medal at an Open Water World Junior Championships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 16-year-old had not only the support of her team behind her in Santa Fe, but also her family, who made the long journey to Argentina to be with her this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDefinitely a lot of emotions, I\u2019ve been wanting this for so long. My family is over there and they came all the way from Australia to watch me so I\u2019m really happy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cassandra Galea, Olivia\u2019s older sister, is one of her family members supporting in Santa Fe this week, and added: \u201cWe’re so incredibly proud of Olivia, the hard work that she’s put in with the team and her coach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe team camaraderie is super strong. They’ve been training really hard, doing camps with Fernando [Head Coach]. We’re over the moon and so excited.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hungarians Balint Kreisz and Armand Marosszeki went 1-2 in the Boys’ 16-17 yrs 7.5km Open Water World Junior<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15452,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[478,54],"class_list":["post-15451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-open-water","tag-swimming"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t