2022 Junior Pan Pacs – Day 2 Prelims Live Recap

2022 Junior Pan Pacific Championships

• August 24-27, 2022
• Mark Takai Veterans Memorial Aquatics Center
• Honolulu, Hawaii (Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time)
• Prelims 9:00 AM / Finals 5:00 PM (GMT-10)
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results
• Live Streaming
• Five main story lines – boys
• Five main story lines – girls

The 2022 Junior Pan Pacific Championships, which brings together swimmers from Australia, Canada, Japan, the United States, New Zealand, Samoa, Fiji, and Singapore, is being hosted by the U.S. in Honolulu, Hawaii. It is open to athletes aged 13-18 as of December 31st of the competition year. Each nation is limited to two athletes in the scored A final and two in the B final.

Day 1 brought lots of excitement with Junior Pan Pacs meet records being rewritten left and right. USA’s Erin Gemmell downed Dagny Knutson’s 2009 mark in the 200 free twice, with a 1:56.66 in prelims and then a 1:56.15 in finals. Daniel Diehl took a .63 bite out of Jack Conger’s 100 back record from 2012 in prelims, going 53.40. It was also a National Age Group record for 15-16 boys in the U.S. He then lowered both marks in finals to 53.27.

Australia’s Flynn Southam clocked a 1:47.11 to win the boys’ 200 free, which took .54 off Drew Kibler’s 2018 meet mark. Japan’s Airi Mitsui won the girls’ 200 fly in 2:07.82, going .34 faster than Cassidy Bayer’s winning time from 2016 that set the meet record. USA’s Aaron Shackell also downed the meet mark in the 200 fly; his 1:55.81 erased Andrew Seliskar’s 2014 Junior Pan Pacs meet record.

Finally, the U.S. relay of Daniel Diehl, Zhier Fan, Alex Shackell, and Anna Moesch won the mixed 400 medley relay in 3:46.83, taking .17 off the meet record established by Team USA in 2018.

Day 2 will feature heats of 100 free, 100 breast, and 400 IM. Gemmell and Southam will seek their second titles. Gemmell will face challenges from teammates Anna Moesch and Kayla Wilson as well as Australia’s Hannah Casey, Olivia Wunsch, and Milla Jansen. Southam comes in with the top seed time, more than a second faster than USA’s Thomas Heilman, Kaii Winkler, Daniel Diehl, and Henry McFadden.

In the breaststroke, both Piper Enge of USA and Kotomi Kato of Japan are entered with 1:08s on the girls’ side, while Singapore’s Nicholas Mahabir and USA’s Zhier Fan are the only boys with sub 1:01s.

Girls 100 Meter Freestyle – Heats

• Jr World: 52.70 – Penny Oleksiak, CAN (2016)
• Jr Pan Pac: 54.47 – Gretchen Walsh, USA (2018)

A-final qualifiers:

1. Erin Gemmell, USA – 54.42
2. Milla Jansen, Australia – 54.53
3. Olivia Wunsch, Australia – 54.92
4. Kayla Wilson, USA – 55.00
5. Lilly Daley, Canada – 55.46
6. Laura Littlejohn, New Zealand – 55.76
7. Christey Liang, Canada – 55.97
8. Karin Ninomiya, Japan – 56.86

Erin Gemmell broke her second meet record in as many days, this time with a 54.42 in heats of the girls’ 100 freestyle. Gemmell eclipsed by .05 the previous mark, set by Gretchen Walsh in 2018. Coming in with the third-fastest seed time, Gemmell won the first circle-seeded heat ahead of teammate Kayla Wilson (55.00) and Canada’s Kamry Cannings (56.52).

Milla Jansen of Australia led the charge in heat 7, winning in 54.53 to take .4 off her seed time. USA’s Anna Moesch (55.19) and Canada’s Lilly Daley (55.46) touched second and third behind her.

Olivia Wunsch of Australia was first to the wall in the last heat. She stopped the clock at 54.92, just .17 ahead of teammate Hannah Casey (55.09). USA’s Alex Shackell was third with 55.80.

Boys 100 Meter Freestyle – Heats

• Jr World: 46.86 – David Popovici, ROU (2022)
• Jr Pan Pac: 48.91 – Jack Cartwright, AUS (2016)

A-final qualifiers:

1. Thomas Heilman, USA – 49.06
2. Flynn Southam, Australia – 49.12
3. Henry McFadden, USA – 49.23
4. Jamie Mooney, Australia – 50.14
5. Tatsumi Edward Scott, Japan – 50.78
6. Yuta Watanabe, Japan – 50.95
7. Filip Senc-Samardzic, Canada – 51.23
8. Paul Dardis, Canada – 51.34

USA’s Kaii Winkler kicked off the circle-seeded heats of boys’ 100 freestyle with a 49.47, an improvement of .2 from his entry time. Teammates Hudson Williams (50.41) and Keaton Jones (50.48) were about a body length behind Winkler, giving USA a sweep of the top three spots in the heat.

15-year-old Thomas Heilman of USA cracked a 49.06 to win the next heat with a National Age Group record for 15-16 boys. He took .61 off his seed time and passed Caeleb Dressel, who had set the NAG mark at Summer Juniors in 2013, by .19. Heilman still has another year to do further damage in the age group. Behind Heilman was teammate Henry McFadden, who dropped half a second to finish in 49.23. McFadden accelerated over the final 20 meters and came within .14 of Heilman at the finish. Third in the heat was Australia’s Marcus Da Silva (50.21).

Top-seeded Flynn Southam of Australia won the last heat in 49.12, just over half a second off his seed time. USA’s Daniel Diehl came to the wall in 49.86, touching out Australia’s Jamie Mooney (50.14) for second place in the heat.

Girls 100 Meter Breaststroke – Heats

• Jr World: 1:04.35 – Ruta Meilutyte, LTU (2013)
• Jr Pan Pac: 1:07.55 – Emily Weiss, USA (2018)

A-final qualifiers:

1. Piper Enge, USA – 1:08.38
2. Kotomi Kato, Japan – 1:09.49
3. Sophie Martin, Australia – 1:09.98
4. Yumeno Kusuda, Japan – 1:10.15
5. Isabella Johnson, Australia – 1:10.47
6. Ashley McMillan, Canada – 1:10.65
7. Danika Ethier, Canada – 1:10.81
8. Gracie Weyant, USA – 1:11.48

Tia Mawi of Fiji started off with a 3-second drop in heat 1 of the 100 breast to win with 1:20.14. Ashley McMillan of Canada followed with 1:10.65 to win heat 2 just ahead of Japan’s Yuri Matsumoto (1:10.79) and Canada’s Regan Rathwell (1:11.02).

Kotomi Kato and Yumeno Kusuda made it a 1-2 sweep for Japan in heat 3. Kato won with 1:09.49, while Kusuda stopped the clock at 1:10.15. Isabella Johnson of Australia came in third with 1:10.47.

Piper Enge, the number 1 seed out of USA, finished a body length ahead of the field in the final heat. Her 1:08.38 was the lone sub-1:09 of the morning. Behind her were Sophie Martin from Australia (1:09.98) and Danika Ethier of Canada (1:10.81).

Boys 100 Meter Breaststroke – Heats

• Jr World: 59.01 – Nicolo Martinenghi, ITA (2017)
• Jr Pan Pac: 59.85 – Akihiro Yamaguchi, JPN (2012)

A-final qualifiers:

1. Yamoto Okadome, Japan – 1:00.70
2. Nicholas Mahabir, Singapore – 1:01.31
3. Haig Buckingham, Australia – 1:01.74
4. Zhier Fan, USA – 1:02.40
5. Watson Nguyen, USA – 1:03.12
6. Brayden Taivassalo, Canada – 1:03.34
7. Alistair Gorgijovski, Australia – 1:03.83
8. Junhao Chan, Singapore – 1:04.38

Yamato Okadome of Japan opened the boys’ 100 breast heats with a blazing 1:00.70. He dropped .46 from his seed time and won the heat by well over two body lengths. Singapore’s Junhao Chan improved his entry time by 1.9 seconds to touch second in 1:04.38, while third place went to Hayden Visscher of Canada in 1:04.50.

USA’s Zhier Fan, the number two seed coming in, went 1:02.40 to win heat 2 in front of teammate Watson Nguyen (1:03.12) and Canada’s Brayden Taivassalo (1:03.34).

Nicholas Mahabir of Singapore went 1:01.31 to take the final heat ahead of Haig Buckingham from Australia (1:01.74) and Ben Delmar of USA (1:03.26).

Girls 400 Meter Individual Medley – Heats

• Jr World: 4:29.01 – Summer McIntosh, CAN (2022)
• Jr Pan Pac: 4:39.76 – Becca Mann, USA (2012)

A-final qualifiers:

1. Mio Narita, Japan – 4:42.33
2. Kayla Han, USA – 4:46.99
3. Ayami Suzuki, Japan – 4:47.18
4. Michaela Mattes, USA – 4:47.84
5. Ella Jansen, Canada – 4:48.22
6. Kathryn Hazle, Canada – 4:49.06
7. Tiana Kritzinger, Australia – 4:55.69
8. Georgie Roper, Australia – 4:59.55

Ayami Suzuki of Japan won the first circle-seeded heat of 400 IM with 4:47.18, coming to the wall nearly a body length ahead of Canada’s Ella Jansen. Jansen had led by .6 after the butterfly but Suzuki took over on the backstroke. The pair traded stroke for stroke on the breaststroke leg, but Suzuki’s sprint over the final 20 meters of freestyle assured her the heat win. Kathryn Hazle of Canada closed hard but could not catch the leaders; she came in third with 4:49.06. USA’s Emma Weyant was disqualified in that heat.

Top-seeded Mio Narita dominated the final heat of the 400 IM from start to finish. She was already up by a full second ahead of USA’s Michaela Mattes after the butterfly leg and continued to build her lead from there. USA’s Kayla Han moved past Mattes into second place on the breaststroke; she held on through to the finish and wound up with 4:46.99 behind Narita (4:42.33). Mattes was third with 4:47.84.

Boys 400 Meter Individual Medley – Heats

• Jr World: 4:10.02 – Ilia Borodin, RUS (2021)
• Jr Pan Pac: 4:12.59 – Chase Kalisz (2012)

A-final qualifiers:

1. Ei Kamikawabata, Japan – 4:14.95
2. Lorne Wigginton, Canada – 4:19.40
3. Riki Abe, Japan – 4:19.84
4. Cooper Lucas, USA – 4:21.21
5. William Petric, Australia – 4:23.43
6. Maximus Williamson, USA – 4:24.09
7. Benjamin Loewen, Canada – 4:26.04
8. Joshua Staples, Australia – 4:26.19

Japan’s Riku Yamaguchi appeared to win the first circle-seeded heat with 4:14, dropping 2.5 seconds from his seed time, but he was later disqualified. Instead, Tomoyuki Matsushita got the heat win with 4:20.48. Australia’s William Petric came in second with 4:23.43, just beating out USA’s Maximus Williamson (4:24.09) on the freestyle.

Ei Kamikawabata from Japan, the number one seed, took the final heat with a dominant 4:14.95. Coming to the wall behind him were Canada’s Lorne Wigginton (4:19.40), Japan’s Riki Abe (4:19.84), and USA’s Cooper Lucas (4:21.21). Wigginton trailed Kamikawabata, Abe, and Lucas at the halfway point but pushed past Lucas on the breaststroke, then made up for a 2-second deficit to Abe on the freestyle to come in second in the heat.