An eventful day for the USA marked the opening of the World Junior Swimming Championships 2023. The 9th edition of the meet kicked in on Monday, September 4 in Netanya, Israel. This makes Israel the third Asian country after UAE (2013) and Singapore (2015) to host the championships. The US side was eager to go all out after missing the meet last year in Peru.

Along with the US, Australia and Canada also made a comeback this year. And with them came some of the top junior swimmers of recent times. The Aussies boast recent world gold medalist Flynn Southam in their arsenal. Whereas the US has budding swimming talent Maximus Williamson who is a 2022 Junior Pan Pacific Championships gold medalist. So excitement reached its pinnacle when the two sides made it to the finals of the men’s 4×100 Relay.

‘Maximus’ performance creates new swimming record

On Monday, 17-year-old Maximus Williamson put up a career-best performance to fetch the US side their second gold in this year’s meet. The US teen started as the second-leg swimmer in the men’s 4×100 Relay finals that started at 21.39 local time. In that position, he split 47.78 which is more than a second faster than his career-best over the distance. Riding on that the US Relay team posted Netanya’s first World Junior Record (3:15.49).

“Team USA with a fantastic swim to set the new WOOOOORLD JUNIOR RECORD in the Men’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay…3:15.49”, World Aquatics posted on their official X account. As a second-leg swimmer, Williamson undoubtedly set the course of the record. But the Aussies still had Southam as their anchor. But the fins of the fierce swimmer were clipped by the US anchor Jason Zhao. The valiant swimming of 16-year-old Zhao left behind Southam and pushed the USA over the line.

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The Australian side had to settle down with Silver at 3:16.69. Whereas Canada clinched the bronze with a timing of 3:17.49. The winning streak of the US side on Monday did not end here, however. Another race, that started ten minutes after the men’s relay was still underway. Ironically, that also saw another neck-to-neck battle among the US and Australia.

More glory to the US, shattering Aussie dream

In the Women’s 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay, the US women’s swimming team was again at loggerheads with Australia and Canada. The three teams battled for the glory over the final fifty meters. And the US side (7:52.48) outswam the Aussies (7:52.68) by a very narrow margin to pick up their third gold in the meet. Canada (7:53.09) once again had to be content with the bronze.

The US team for the Women’s 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay included Leah Hayes. Just about half an hour before the relay, Hayes fetched the USA their first gold in this year’s championship. In the Women’s 400m Individual Medley, she set a new championship record by finishing the race at 4:36.84. Two months ago the 18-year-old had put up her career-best swimming at the US World Championships Trials. Monday’s timing eclipsed that.

September 4 holds great importance in US history, being Labor Day. There could not have been a better way to honor this all-important day in an international arena. By doing this, the future stars of US swimming have set the tone of history and the championship correctly. Records have started dropping in from the very first day. Stay hooked for more action till the meet wraps up on September 9.

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