The Week That Was: World Junior Records Drop In Indianapolis

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

World Junior Records have been dropping all week in Indianapolis, with the 2017 FINA World Junior Championships pitting the rising generations of international talent against each other this week. Take a look below to see some of the biggest records from that meet in The Week That Was!

The Week That Was #5 – Simone Manuel Contributes Personal Column To Essence

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Photo Courtesy: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

Olympic and World Champion Simone Manuel contributed a personal column to Essence magazine where she wrote about her experiences as an African-American swimmer. Manuel writes about the difficulty of growing up in what is a predominantly white sport, saying she looked up to other black swimmers, including Maritza (Correia) McClendon and Cullen Jones. She says those role models helped her stay in the sport, and that when she won Olympic gold in Rio she “cried tears of joy because of all the time I spent in the water preparing for the Olympics and also for the athletes who came before me and inspired me to stay in the sport.” Manuel also cited the statistic from USA Swimming that 64 percent of African-American children don’t know how to swim, calling on families to ignore stereotypes that may surround the sport and to take advantage of resources in their communities to teach children how to swim, including USA Swimming Foundation’s Make a Splash initiative. You can read the column from Essence magazine here.

The Week That Was #4 – Lia Neal Goes Pro, Signs With TYR

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Photo Courtesy: SIPA USA

Olympic medalist and recent Stanford grad Lia Neal has gone pro, signing with TYR Sport this week. Neal first broke onto the international stage in 2012, when she qualified for the Olympic Team and earned a bronze medal at the London Games as part of the American 400 free relay. Neal would go on to swim for Stanford, where she won a total of nine national championships, including an NCAA team championship in 2017. Neal was also a silver medalist in Rio de Janeiro and a gold medalist at this summer’s FINA World Championships in Budapest. She joins a growing group of TYR sponsored athletes that include Ryan Lochte, Dana Vollmer, Matt Grevers and Leah Smith.

The Week That Was #3 – Ryan Lochte Planning Move Back To University of Florida

Photo Courtesy: Maria Dobysheva

Twelve time Olympic medalist Ryan Lochte is heading back to his former training base in Gainesville, Florida, returning to the University of Florida to work with coach Gregg Troy. Lochte was based in Gainesville from 2002 to 2013, where he competed for the Gators in NCAA competition and had his breakout on the international scene. Lochte plans to make the move to Gainesville in September and remain there through the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Lochte recently completed his 10 month suspension with a return at the U.S. Open, where he won the 200 IM and set a new meet record, and has spent much of the last year training with Dave Salo and Jon Urbanchek at the University of Southern California. The past year has been filled with big life changes for Lochte, with an engagement to girlfriend Kayla Rae Reid and the birth of his son, Caiden.

The Week That Was #2 – 2017 WUGs Come To A Close In Taiwan

Photo Courtesy: Peter Bick

The 2017 World University Games came to a close in Taipei this week, with the United States topping the medals table with 28 total medals (11 gold) throughout the seven days of competition. Japan was a close second, leading the USA in gold medals heading into the last night of finals and ended the meet with 20 total medals, 9 of them gold. Notable swims from this week’s competition included Japan’s Nao Horomura setting a Games record in the 200 butterfly (1:53.90), Andrew Wilson setting a Games record (2:08.37) and gold in the 200 breast, and Italy’s Simona Quadarella setting a Games record in the 800 free (8:20.54). Also notable was Germany’s Sarah Koehler, who broke the Games record in the 400 free (4:03.96) and the German national record from way back in 1989. You can find all of the results from the 2017 World University Games on our Event Landing Page.

The Week That Was #1 – World Junior Records Fall At Junior Worlds

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

The 2017 FINA World Junior Championships is through five of six days in Indianapolis, and meet and world junior records have fallen night after night. American Michael Andrew was one of the biggest record breakers of the meet, taking down three world junior records in two days. Andrew knocked down the world junior record in the 50 back (24.63), 50 free (21.75), and 50 butterfly (23.27), capturing gold in all three events in a remarkable show of consistency. His teammate Regan Smith had some record breaking swims of her own, first breaking the WJR and NAG record en route to gold in the 100 back before lowering it again leading off the mixed 4 x 100 medley relay with a 58.95. Italian Nicolo Martinenghi also continued his assault on the men’s world junior record in the 100 breast, taking it all the way down to 59.01 to capture the gold medal in that event. You can see all the results of the 2017 FINA World Junior Championships on our Event Landing Page.

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