2019 USA SWIMMING SPEEDO JUNIOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Tuesday, August 6 – Saturday, August 10, 2019
- Stanford Avery Aquatic Center, Palo Alto, CA
- Prelims 9 AM / Finals 5 PM (U.S. Pacific Time)
- LCM format
- Psych sheet
- Live stream (all sessions)
- Start Lists & Live Results
Justina Kozan of Brea Aquatics closed in on Leah Hayes in the final 50 of the 200 IM to take home the gold medal at the 2019 Speedo Junior National Championships. Kozan, 15, is now the 10th fastest 15-16 200 IMer in the United States and the 3rd fastest 15 year old in the event in the last decade, behind Missy Franklin (2:11.69) and Alex Walsh (2:12.36).
Kozan dropped 1.70 seconds from her entry time of 2:14.04. She added 2.5 seconds during her prelims swim (2:16.62) but made up for it in finals. Her final 50 free split of 29.15 was 1.13 seconds faster Ye Shiwen‘s top closing split of 30.28 at World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea. The closing 50 split would even have been the second fastest at Worlds in the 200 free, only slower than Federica Pellegrini‘s split of 28.90.
Kozan was out of the water for part of the summer after a dog bite to the face that left her with 17 stitches. She had to sit out of the pool for a couple of week in order to recover, which only made her work harder once she was able to get back to training.
Top 10 Swimmers:
- Katie Hoff – 2:10.41
- Dagny Knutson – 2:10.79
- Elizabeth Pelton – 2:11.03
- Elizabeth Beisel – 2:11.65
- Missy Franklin – 2:11.69
- Meghan Small – 2:11.83
- Alex Walsh – 2:11.83
- Caitlin Leverenz – 2:12.32
- Allison Wagner – 2:12.54
- Justina Kozan – 2:12.74
| Kozan (finals) | Kozan (prelims) | ||
| Fly | 28.50 | 30.01 | |
| Back | 34.88 | 35.40 | |
| Breast | 40.21 | 40.56 | |
| Free | 29.15 | 30.65 | |
| 2:12.74 | 2:16.62 |
Kozan also finished first in the 200 fly (2:09.68) and the 200 free (1:59.48). She and her team placed second in the 4×200 free relay.
If you actually watch the video you can tell the final split isn’t actually 29.15. She clearly turned in second place going into the last 50, but the splits have her in third place by 0.25. It must have registered the third split when her feet hit the wall.
good catch also the splits have her ahead of lane 6 by only .04 which would be them touching at the same time which they did not. I think she still finished under 30.
Great performance. And fun race to watch. Without Leah Hayes in the race I’m not sure Justina Kozan would have finished as fast. Maybe Justina could go faster on back and breast but in that case it’s likely she would be unable to finish in 29.15. Her 2 best strokes are by far fly and free. She won the 200 fly and the 200 free earlier in the week. It’s probably a strategy to have a strong fly and then not outswim on back and breast to finish as strong as possible on freestyle. Remember MP in Rio. He didn’t outswim breaststroke and then destroyed everybody on free. But maybe I’m totally wrong and she just tried to survive on… Read more »
Kozan looking great to final at trials next year and maybe even a spot on the team!
200 IM is kind of a crapshoot behind Margalis. Eastin is capable, as is Galat, and Baker is also in there if she chooses to swim it. Then there’s Walsh and Small, who aren’t as established, but do have an outside chance. So honestly she does have a decent chance if she can back up that freestyle leg.
Hope she’s now entering the testing pool. Very fishy,,,,
Sad to see someone’s hard work questioned with such a disgusting implication.
Faster than Ye Shiwen’s 29.42 in the 2011 World Final too, and to think of the hell that poor girl had coming her way. Big time swim from Kozan; Congratulations.
Faster than MA’s free leg
And Lochte’s and Shebat’s.
Not Lochte
My mistake, thought Lochte was 30.XX.