The World Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships in Netanya, Israel, is set to showcase the future of swimming from 4 to 9 September 2023. Over 600 young swimmers from more than 100 countries will compete in the six-day event at the Wingate Institute, a facility purpose-built for hosting world-class international swimming events. Here are 12 top swimmers to watch at the upcoming championships, who have already made their mark in the senior level or have shown great potential in their age group.
Flynn Southam (Australia)
Flynn Southam is one of the most promising talents in Australian swimming. The 18-year-old won the gold medal in the men’s 200m freestyle at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, earlier this year, beating the likes of Sun Yang and Duncan Scott. He also claimed silver in the mixed 4x200m freestyle relay, setting a new world record with his teammates. Southam has a personal best of 1:44.97 in the 200m freestyle, which ranks him fourth in the world this year. He will be aiming to defend his title at the junior level and add more medals to his collection.
Leah Hayes (USA)
Leah Hayes is a world junior record holder in the women’s 200m individual medley, with a time of 2:09.98. She set the record at the US Olympic Trials in June 2023, where she finished fourth and narrowly missed out on qualifying for Tokyo. The 16-year-old also holds the national age group records in the 200m and 400m individual medley for 15-16 years old. She is a versatile swimmer who can excel in multiple events, such as the freestyle, breaststroke, and butterfly. She will be leading the US team of 38 swimmers at the junior championships, where she is expected to dominate her events.
David Popovici (Romania)
David Popovici is a sprint sensation who stunned the world with his performances at the European Championships in May 2023. The 16-year-old won three gold medals in the men’s 50m, 100m, and 200m freestyle, breaking the European records in the latter two events. He also became the first Romanian swimmer to qualify for the Olympics since 1996. Popovici has a personal best of 47.30 in the 100m freestyle, which ranks him second in the world this year behind Caeleb Dressel. He will be looking to challenge Dressel’s world junior record of 47.10 at the junior championships, as well as adding more medals to his tally.
Anastasia Gorbenko (Israel)
Anastasia Gorbenko is the host nation’s star swimmer and one of the most versatile swimmers in the world. The 18-year-old won two bronze medals at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, in the women’s 200m individual medley and the mixed 4x100m medley relay. She also competed in six other events, reaching the final in four of them. Gorbenko has a personal best of 2:09.03 in the 200m individual medley, which ranks her third in the world this year behind Katinka Hosszu and Yui Ohashi. She will be aiming to win her first gold medal at the senior level and delight her home crowd at the junior championships.
Thomas Ceccon (Italy)
Thomas Ceccon is a rising star in Italian swimming and one of the fastest backstrokers in the world. The 19-year-old won two silver medals at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, in the men’s 100m backstroke and the mixed 4x100m medley relay. He also claimed bronze in the men’s 50m backstroke and finished fourth in the men’s 100m butterfly. Ceccon has a personal best of 52.84 in the 100m backstroke, which ranks him fifth in the world this year behind Ryan Murphy, Evgeny Rylov, Xu Jiayu, and Kliment Kolesnikov. He will be looking to challenge Kolesnikov’s world junior record of 52.53 at the junior championships, as well as competing in other events.
Summer McIntosh (Canada)
Summer McIntosh is a prodigy in Canadian swimming and one of the fastest freestylers in the world. The 15-year-old qualified for the Olympics in four events, becoming the youngest Canadian swimmer to do so since 1976. She won the silver medal in the women’s 800m freestyle at the Tokyo Games, breaking the national record with a time of 8:19.02. She also finished fourth in the women’s 400m freestyle and seventh in the women’s 200m freestyle. McIntosh has a personal best of 1:56.19 in the 200m freestyle, which ranks her sixth in the world this year behind Ariarne Titmus, Katie Ledecky, Siobhan Haughey, Yang Junxuan, and Federica Pellegrini. She will be aiming to win her first gold medal at the senior level and break more records at the junior championships.
Andrei Minakov (Russia)
Andrei Minakov is a sprint specialist and one of the fastest butterflyers in the world. The 19-year-old won two silver medals at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, in the men’s 100m butterfly and the men’s 4x100m medley relay. He also claimed bronze in the mixed 4x100m medley relay and finished fifth in the men’s 50m butterfly. Minakov has a personal best of 50.57 in the 100m butterfly, which ranks him third in the world this year behind Caeleb Dressel and Kristof Milak. He will be looking to challenge Dressel’s world junior record of 50.08 at the junior championships, as well as competing in other events.
Evgeniia Chikunova (Russia)
Evgeniia Chikunova is a breaststroke sensation and one of the fastest swimmers in the world. The 17-year-old won two gold medals at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, in the women’s 200m breaststroke and the mixed 4x100m medley relay. She also claimed silver in the women’s 100m breaststroke and finished fourth in the women’s 4x100m medley relay. Chikunova has a personal best of 2:19.28 in the 200m breaststroke, which ranks her second in the world this year behind Tatjana Schoenmaker. She will be aiming to break Schoenmaker’s world record of 2:18.95 at the junior championships, as well as adding more medals to her collection.
Matt Richards (Great Britain)
Matt Richards is a freestyle star and one of the fastest swimmers in the world. The 18-year-old won the gold medal in the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay at the Tokyo Olympics, setting a new European record with his teammates. He also finished sixth in the men’s 200m freestyle and eighth in the men’s 100m freestyle. Richards has a personal best of 1:45.77 in the 200m freestyle, which ranks him seventh in the world this year behind Sun Yang, Duncan Scott, Katsuhiro Matsumoto, Martin Malyutin, Kyle Chalmers, and Flynn Southam. He will be looking to challenge Southam’s title at the junior championships, as well as competing in other events.
Kayla van der Merwe (South Africa)
Kayla van der Merwe is a breaststroke specialist and one of the fastest swimmers in the world. The 18-year-old won the bronze medal in the women’s 100m breaststroke at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, breaking the African record with a time of 1:05.32. She also finished fifth in the women’s 50m breaststroke and seventh in the women’s 200m breaststroke. Van der Merwe has a personal best of 2:23.82 in the 200m breaststroke, which ranks her eighth in the world this year behind Tatjana Schoenmaker, Evgeniia Chikunova, Lilly King, Annie Lazor, Abbie Wood, Emily Escobedo, and Molly Renshaw. She will be aiming to improve her ranking at the junior championships, as well as competing in other events.
