Mens Swimming Competition at Buenos Aires 2018

Summer Youth Olympics 

2018 

Mens Swimming  Competition at  Buenos Aires 

2018

Russian and Hungarian swimmer collected 

 Gold Medal Win in Men's Swimming 

BUENOS AIRES - The Youth Olympic Games are a springboard for junior athletes, and some young swimming champions at the third summer edition of the Games already look poised to make an impression at Tokyo 2020.

South African swimmer Chad Le Clos surprised the world at the London 2012 Olympic Games with an incredible comeback in the last seconds of the 200m butterfly event, which was the specialty of his rival, multi-champion Michael Phelps.

However, that was not the first time that Le Clos won an Olympic gold medal – two years before that, at 18 years old, he won the 200m medley at the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games. He is now one of the Athlete Role Models for Buenos Aires 2018.

Another Athlete Role Model is Spanish swimmer Mireia Belmonte, also an Olympic champion. "It's super nice, it's all about helping the boys and girls deal with all the doubts and questions they have. I’m here to share my knowledge with them. I've had a great time because I’ve also learned a lot from them," she said.

Hungarian swimmer Ajna Kesely won three gold medals in the Natatorium at Buenos Aires 2018. 

The Russian delegation dominated the swimming competition at Buenos Aires 2018, winning a total of 19 medals, including 13 gold. Two of their athletes especially stood out.

"I feel great," said Kliment Kolesnikov after winning his sixth gold medal.

The Russian swimmer - the only world record holder participating at Buenos Aires 2018 - finished first in all three individual events he competed in. On top of that, he won three gold and one silver in the relays.

One of his top accomplishments was the mixed 4x100m medley. He was in charge of the last stage of the relay, which found him starting in sixth position, but he managed to take his teammates to second place with a time of 47.85, thus helping them to win the silver medal.

"I saw that some teams had left girls for the final part and I thought that I could beat some of them. I focused and gave everything I that could. I even stopped breathing for the last 15 metres," Kolesnikov said.

Russian swimmer Kliment Kolesnikov collected seven medals at Buenos Aires 2018.

Kolesnikov was not the only one who won seven medals. Andrei Minakov was in the Russian relay teams too and he also triumphed in the 100m freestyle and the 50m and 100m butterfly events. As a result, Kolesnikov and Minakov became the two biggest medallists in the history of the Youth Olympic Games.

Another country that shone at the swimming competition was Hungary, one of the world powers in the sport. The home of Olympic stars Katinka Hosszu and Laszlo Cseh already has two solid candidates to keep its glory alive in the future. Among them is Ajna Kesely, who won three gold medals in the women’s 200m, 400m and 800m freestyle events.

"I’ve had a difficult year, participating in many competitions. I came here to enjoy, without expectations about winning medals," said the top medallist in the women’s events at Buenos Aires 2018.

Her compatriot Kristof Milak finished with three gold and one silver in the men's races.