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Madwed Shines at Junior Pan Pacifics
Dan takes another silver in the 100M Butterfly and in the 400 Medley Relay.
Updates from USA Swimming:
-Daniel
Madwed (
- Dan and teammates took silver in the 400 Medley Relay: The men’s relay – comprised of Patrick Schirk (Pottstown, Penn./Pottstown YMCA), Spann, Dan Madwed (Stamford, Conn./Sharks) and Ryan Verlatti (Tacoma, Wash./Tacoma) – traded the lead with Japan throughout the entire race before Hisayoshi Sato pulled ahead of Verlatti in the freestyle leg to take the gold.
Daniel Madwed (SHKS) joins his National Junior team members, representing USA Swimming, at the first-ever Junior Pan Pacifics. This meet was designed to give younger swimmers the opportunity to gain international experience, therefore athletes must be younger than 18 and may not have represented their countries in the Olympics, FINA World Championships, Pan American Games, Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, etc.
Dan's event, the 200M butterfly, was the third event of competition, so wasting
no time Dan, yet again, displayed his might in the pool. Congratulations, Dan!
Excerpt from USA Swimming's website:
KIHEI, Maui, Hawaii – Daniel Madwed came to the Junior Pan Pacific Championships in Hawaii knowing the names of few of his international competitors, except one: Japan’s Shota Takamoto.
But in the end, it wasn’t Takamoto that provided Madwed with the biggest challenge in the 200m butterfly.
It was Takamoto’s Japanese teammate, Kazuya Kaneda, who caught Madwed in the final 50 to capture the gold, finishing in 1:59.92. The 15-year-old Madwed (Stamford, CT) touched the wall just behind him in 2:00.28 for the silver. American teammate Anthony Fleming (Shreveport, La.) charged in the final 25 meters to take the bronze in 2:00.91.
Everyone at the Kihei Aquatic Center anxiously anticipated the 200m fly show-down, which was the last of the night, after Madwed and Takamoto swam neck-in-neck in the morning’s prelim. In the end, it was Kaneda who stole the show.
“I felt the whole place get really quiet, and I thought it was my time to take it,” Madwed said. “Obviously that didn’t happen, but it was one of my best swims and best times.
“(Competing here) is sort of like swimming blind. I know a lot of the U.S. swimmers I compete against, but this is a whole new experience seeing how I match up against the best in the world. It’s great.”
On the women’s side, it was a pair of 15-year-olds who gave the U.S. two medals in the 100m backstroke. Lauren English (Lincoln Park, N.J.) finished in 1:03.59 for the silver, while Lauren Smart (Charlotte, N.C.) was only seconds behind her to collect the bronze with a time of 1:03.77. The top seed heading into the final, Japan’s Eri Tabei swam a 1:03.06 for the gold.
Although English didn’t swim as fast in the final as she did in prelims, she still sees this as a confidence booster for her remaining three events.
“I think I started the race well,” English said. “The first 50, I was feeling it. My tempo was good, and I worked hard off the wall. Then the last 50 kicked in, and it was harsh the rest of the way.”
Courtney Kalisz (Bel Air, Md.) was the only other U.S. medalist for the evening, posting a 2:14.40 to claim silver in the 200m fly between a couple of Japanese 18-year-olds. Kozue Watanabe captured the gold with a winning time of 2:13.91, and Ayano Kuroki was a tenth of second behind Kalisz for the bronze (2:14.51).
Only 14 years old, Kalisz saw her chance at the 150 mark to take the lead. She was in front down the homestretch, but it was Watanabe who chased her down for the gold.
“For my first international meet, it’s been a good experience,” Kalisz said. “This was probably my best event, but I have three other events that are also good for me. I’m just hoping to do well in all of them.”
After Day 1, Australia holds a slight lead in the team scores with 249 points, while Team USA is a close second place with 236.5. Japan trails in third with 209.5 points.
Preliminary heats for Day 2 begin Friday at 9 a.m., and finals start at 5 p.m. Friday’s events include the 100m free, 100m breast, 400m IM, 800m free relay and men’s 800m free.
For complete results, visit our special Junior Pan Pacs section.