Brinkleigh Hansen (16, USA, World Aquatics bio here, @brinkleigh_hansen, shown on left above), Mahila Spennato (17, Italy, World Aquatics bio here, shown on middle above), and Su İnal (16, Turkey, World Aquatic bio here, @su_inal_, shown on right above) have swum head-to-head against the world’s fastest open water swimmers – from Moesha Johnson of Australia and Ginevra Taddeucii of Germany to Ichika Kajimoto of Japan and Bettina Fabian of Hungary – at the World Aquatics Championships and the World Aquatics Open Water Swimming Cups in Europe.

The trio will race head-to-head in the 7.5 km race at the upcoming World Junior Open Water Swimming Championships in Santa Fe, Argentina this week.

While İnal has been swimming well, faster and faster as they gain experience, Spennato has the most experience among the three in high-level international open water competitions – a key advantage to capturing a gold medal. Spennato won a bronze in the 5 km at the World Junior Open Water Swimming Championships in 2024.

But Hansen is coming off of a fast 4:07 in the 400m freestyle and a 8:33 in the 800m at the USA Swimming National Championships last month, a demonstration of speed and stamina that will be hard to beat in Lago Sur in Santa Fe’s Parque del Sur. Hansen also has confidence as a defending champion at the World Junior Championships, winning the 5 km race among 14-15 year olds in Sardinia, Italy in 2024 – a race where her Turkish rival finished fourth in 1:04:31.20.

The girl’s 7.5 km race will be held on Friday, Day Two of the Championships where over 250 swimmers ages 14 to 19 from 40 countries will compete.

Argentina Aquatics Confederation President Sergio Rubén Antonini announced to World Aquatics, “We are very excited to be bringing next year’s World Aquatics Junior Open Water Swimming Championships to our historic city. We have a proud history of hosting the world’s open water elite here. With the global pandemic, we couldn’t host the Ultramarathon Swim Series for three years, so these Championships mark a fresh start for us as an event host. We have a passionate fan base and strong local support for open water swimming, so we couldn’t be prouder to bring the world back to Santa Fe next September.”

Women’s 7.5 km Start List, 16-17 Year

1. Victoria Nestares, Argentina
2. Olivia Galea, Australia
3. Isobel Mulcahy, Australia
4. Carolina Quiroga, Bolivia
5. Rafaela Siles, Bolivia
6. Isabele Beck, Brazil
7. Maria Eduarda Nobrega, Brazil
8. Abigail McLeod, Canada
9. Eloisa Godoy, Chile
10. Uma Cordova, Ecuador
11. Luciana Piechestein Ruiz, Ecuador
12. Martina Attia, Egypt
13. Carlota del Rio, Spain
14. Dailyn Benitez, Honduras
15. Francis Escobar, Honduras
16. Debbie Mejia, Honduras
17. Kitti Kammerer, Hungary
18. Sofia Biagi, Italy
19. Mahila Spennato, Italy
20. Mimi Gonda, Japan
21. Saya Mizutani, Japan
22. Salda Yelemes, Kazakhstan
23. Marisela Escobar Falcon, Mexico
24. Regina Medina Arcos, Mexico
25. Madison Sara Bergh, Namibia
26. Maeve McDonnell, New Zealand
27. Tegen Stewart, New Zealand
28. Ayelet Battaglia, Paraguay
29. Sofia Sotelo, Paraguay
30. Maria Fernanda Arellanos, Peru
31. Florella Rodriguez, Peru
32. Aleksandra Kuczmar, Poland
33. Iga Polak, Poland
34. Norisbel Rios Candelaria, Puerto Rico
35. Caitlin Evans, South Africa
36. Leah Markgraaff, South Africa
37. Ksenila Misharina, Russia
38. Natalia Spanikova, Slovakia
39. Karolina Valko, Slovakia
40. Zi-Ting Lin, Chinese Taipei
41. Yung-Ling Tsai, Chinese Taipei
42. Su Inal, Turkey
43. Zoe Gonzalez, Uruguay
44. Zaira Santangelo, Uruguay
45. Brinkleigh Hansen, USA
46. Alex Siegel, USA
47. Aithana Fleita Gonzalez, Venezuela
48. Victoria Rodriguez, Venezuela

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