Madi Mintenko opened her individual event slate at Winter Juniors by winning the 500 free and moving to 20th all-time in the American girls 17-18 age group. Archive photo via Jack Spitser/Spitser Photography
2024 Winter Junior Championships – West
- December 11-15, 2024
- Austin, Texas
- Prelims: 9:00 am (CT) / Finals: 5:00 pm (CT)
- SCY (25 yards)
- Prelims Recap: Day 1
- Finals Recap: Day 1 | Day 2
17-year-old Madi Mintenko began her individual event slate at the 2024 Winter Juniors Championships — West with an lifetime best in the girls’ 500 freestyle. Mintenko clocked 4:36.66 to win the event, a 2.94 second drop that moves her up to 20th all-time in her age group for American girls.
(Note: Canada’s Summer McIntosh is listed under the 17-18 girls rankings on USA Swimming)
Mintenko’s previous lifetime best stood at 4:39.24 from March 2023 at the Austin Speedo Sectionals. The high school senior and UVA commit opened her race tonight faster than her previous best, splitting 52.98 compared to 53.25. From there, she continued to out-split her pace from her previous lifetime best on all but a single 50. She also kept herself sub-29 seconds on each 50, which she didn’t do in March almost two years ago…