Based on their pool times and limited open water swimming experience, Taishin Nakagawa (17, Japan, World Aquatics bio here) and Joey Eaddy (15, USA) swim into the 7.5 km boys race at the 2026 World Aquatics Junior Open Water Swimming Championships as pre-race favorites.
Nakagawa has best times of a 4:01 in the 400m, 8:16 in the 800m, and 15:35 in the 1500m pool events while Eaddy has a 3:53 in the 400m, 8:04 in the 800m, and 15:28 in the 1500m pool events. Nakagawa most recently competed in the Australia Open Water Swimming Championships 10 km race (1:54:22) and won the 7.5 km race while Eaddy did his first 10 km at the USA Swimming National Open Water Swimming Championships (2:01:16) followed by two junior victories in the 3 km Knockout Sprints and 5 km.
The boy’s 7.5 km race will be held on Friday as the 3 km Knockout Sprints, 4x1500m mixed relay, 5 km, and 10 km races held between September 3rd and 6th in Lago Sur in Santa Fe, Argentina’s Parque del Sur.
Day One on Thursday, September 3rd of the Championships begins with the men’s 10 km race followed by the women’s 10 km for 18-19 year olds. Day Two on Friday, September 4th has the 16-17 boys and girls 7.5 km races followed by the 14-15 boys and girls 5 km races. Day Three on Saturday, September 5th has the 3 km Knockout Sprints (all ages combined) and Day Four on Sunday, September 6th has the mixed 4×1500 relays for 14-15 and 16-17 age groups.
They are among over 250 swimmers ages 14 to 19 from 40 countries.
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.”
Men’s 7.5 km Start List, 16-17 Year
- Mateo Mayer, Argentina
- Thiago Pizzini Paz, Argentina
- Ethan Cunha, Aruba
- Riley Meares, Australia
- William Thorpe, Australia
- Fabricio Mamani, Bolivia
- Santiago Orellana, Bolivia
- Bruno Santos, Brazil
- Jamal Soares, Brazil
- Gaspar Henriquez, Chile
- Diego Moncada, Chile
- Ondrej Cernohous, Czech Republic
- Renato Moran, Ecuador
- Ariel Torres Ecuador
- Moaz Hussam Mahmoud, Egypt
- Titouan Parat, France
- Konstantinos Chourdakis, Greece
- Nikolaos Kakoulakis, Greece
- Josue Matute, Honduras
- Balint Kreisz, Hungary
- Nicolo Dalle Crode, Italy
- Armand Marosszeki, Hungary
- Gaetano Tammaro, Italy
- Taishin Nakagawa, Japan
- Yaroslav Gubarev, Kazakhstan
- Rusian Maximov, Kazakhstan
- Aryan Joseph, Kenya
- Armando Uri Diaz Escobar, Mexico
- Erick D Espinosa Sanchez, Mexico
- Sheidon Kevin Hogan, New Zealand
- Tyler Lushkott, New Zealand
- Juan Apodaca, Paraguay
- Fernando Segovia, Paraguay
- Arturo Granda, Peru
- Gabriel Mendieta, Peru
- Mieszko Nowacki, Poland
- Jomalier Cruz, Puerto Rico
- Dylan Rios, Puerto Rico
- Wian Bartleman, South Africa
- Kellen Jones, South Africa
- Semen Demidov, Russia
- Aleksandr Filipets, Russia
- Martin Hajko, Slovakia
- Adrian Kacani, Slovakia
- Hao Liu, Chinese Taipei
- Ling Su Bo, Chinese Taipei
- Cernil Cankat Er, Turkey
- Yohan Corbacho, Uruguay
- Nahuel Garcia, Uruguay
- Joseph Eaddy, USA
- Nicholas Liberty, USA
- Juan Gomez Cardenas, Venezuela
- Yotis Serafin Mitsicosta, Venezuela
© 2026 Daily News of Open Water Swimming
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