Junior Pan Pacific: United States dominate in Vancouver as Mijatovic spearheads the next generation

The Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships conclude today, Thursday 20 August, after four days of racing at Vancouver’s UBC Aquatic Centre. The championships are being held for the first time since 2018, with the under-18 event returning after an eight-year absence following the enforced break that came after the 2018 edition.

The Pan Pacific Championships were established in 1985 as a competition for nations bordering the Pacific Ocean, originally conceived as an alternative for countries unable to compete at the European Championships. The four founding federations - the United States, Australia, Canada and Japan - remain the core nations of the event in its junior format, although over time it has also opened up to other non-European countries. Eight teams are competing in Vancouver: the four founding nations are joined by Brazil, Argentina, New Zealand and Singapore.

Canada, the host nation, has entered a 40-strong team. Among the swimmers highlighted by the national federation are Marlee Winser and Simon Fonseca Florez, but after three days of competition the home team remain some way behind the United States and Japan in the medal table.

The medal table after three days

Going into Thursday’s final day, the United States lead the standings with 19 gold medals, 10 silver and 11 bronze, for a total of 40. Japan follow with 10 golds, six silvers and seven bronzes, 23 medals in all. Australia are a surprising third, with just one gold but as many as 11 silvers and three bronzes, 15 medals overall. They have repeatedly come close to gold in the finals without quite managing to convert those performances into victories. Canada have one gold, one silver and two bronzes, for a total of four medals. They are followed by Brazil with five medals but no golds, Argentina with three, New Zealand with two and Singapore with two, both of them bronze.

Results from Thursday’s concluding session were not yet available at the time this article was written: the final tally will only be known once the competition has ended.

The standout races

In the men’s 400m freestyle, Luka Mijatovic of the United States clocked 3:43.67, setting a new Junior Pan Pacs record and finishing more than four seconds ahead of Australia’s Lincoln Wearing, second in 3:47.85. Mijatovic had already attracted attention earlier in the championships as the fastest 17-year-old ever over 800m freestyle, as well as setting a record in the 200m freestyle.

In the women’s events, Vivienne Zangaro of the United States won the 400m freestyle in 4:09.81, narrowly beating Japan’s Haruno Tanimoto, who finished in 4:09.92. In the 100m butterfly, Gabi Brito of the United States finished in 59.41 ahead of Japan’s Umi Ishizuka in 59.59, while Audrey Derivaux won the 200m backstroke in 2:10.35, with fellow American Lane Francis second in 2:11.78. In the 50m breaststroke, Maddie Moreth clocked 31.58, with Australians Lilla Ribot-de-Bresac and Brielle Dredge tied for second in 31.63.

Among the men, in addition to Mijatovic’s record, Japan’s Michika Enomoto won the 100m butterfly in 52.46 ahead of American Charlie Cancelmo in 52.69, while Japan’s Yusei Imaizumi took the 50m breaststroke in 27.55 ahead of Brazil’s Kauã Santos Carvalho in 27.74. In the 200m backstroke, Davis Jackson edged team-mate David Sammons by just 0.38 seconds, 1:59.21 to 1:59.59.

In the 4x100m freestyle relays, the United States won both the men’s event, in 3:18.45 ahead of Australia in 3:19.44, and the women’s race, in 3:40.59, again ahead of Australia, who finished in 3:41.01.

Full results and live updates from the final day can be followed through Swimming Canada’s channels and on SwimSwam.