By Will Baxley on SwimSwam
For the first time since 2019, the Russian flag was raised atop a World Aquatics swimming podium while the Russian national anthem played. This happened four times this weekend as the Open Water World Junior Championships played out in Santa Fe, Argentina.
The eastern European powerhouse collected four golds out of ten total events and added on three silvers to top the meet’s medal table. Russia’s younger contingent showed out, as the country swept all the 14-15 and 14-16 age group events. Kira Guseva, aged 14, was Russia’s biggest star, taking the girls’ 14-15 5k by a whopping 84 seconds. The silver medal in that race also went to a Russian: fellow 14-year-old Anastasiia Siniakova. The host nation of Argentina earned its lone medal by picking up bronze in this race, courtesy of Sofia Ovalles.
In the boys’ edition of the 14-15 5k, the story also goes that a Russian pulled out a dominant win. Alan Nosov pulled of a 37-second victory over silver medalist Sawyer Hansen of the States.
With the three aforementioned Russian medalists along with Aleksandr Filipets, the country also dominated the 14-16 mixed 4×1500 relay, touching the wall 25 seconds ahead of their runner-up American counterparts.
Russia’s other gold medal came from the 16-17 girls’ 7.5k race. This was won by Kseniia Misharina, who carried out a gutsy swim dominating much of the race. The strategy proved successful, as her gap ahead of eventual silver and bronze medalists Brinkleigh Hansen (USA) and Olivia Galea (AUS) was too much to close – though the minor medalists did close it significantly.
Brinkleigh Hansen got her lick back later in the 3k knockout race. In the final 500 meter segment, Hansen beat out Misharina for the gold by only one tenth of a second, the lowest a time difference can go in open water swimming. Their respective final 500 meter times stood at 5:18.80 and 5:18.90, respectively. Hansen, who swims for St. Petersburg Aquatics in Florida, suffered a concussion during her top-ten finish at the Pan Pacific Championships, which left her out of the water for a period of time. Japan’s Sachika Kajimoto, younger sister of the event’s reigning World Champion Ichika Kajimoto, rounded out the 3k podium.
Less than a second also separated the top three gentlemen in the 3k race. France’s Ethan Parker, who is 19 years of age, emerged as the victor.
Hungary had a 1-2 of its own in the 16-17 boys’ 7.5k event. Balint Kreisz topped that event’s podium, while the silver went to compatriot Armand Attila Marosszeki. The Hungarians also picked up gold in the 14-19 mixed 4×1500 relay, taking down runner-up Italy by a three-second margin.
Here are the final medal table standings, with Russia on top. It’s the country’s first appearance on a World Aquatics swimming medal table in seven years. First COVID, then a state doping scandal, and most recently the country’s invasion of Ukraine have denied Russian swimmers the privilege of fully representing their nation this decade. Instead, swimmers had been competing under a “neutral status”. World Aquatics walked back on its neutral status restrictions in April, but the war that has seen over 2 million casualties wages on with no signs of slowing down.
Medal table – World Aquatics Junior Open Water Swimming Championships 2026 Overall Rank CountryGold
Silver
Bronze Total
1Russia 4 3 0 7 2
Hungary 3 1 3 7 3
United States of America 1 4 2 7 4
Italy 1 1 0 2 5
France 1 0 0 1 6
Greece 0 1 0 1 7
Argentina 0 0 1 1 7
Australia 0 0 1 1 7
Brazil 0 0 1 1 7
Japan 0 0 1 1 7
Chinese Taipei 0 0 1 1 7
Türkiye 0 0 1 1
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