Swimming World Championships 2013: It's a young person's game

"Gold comes rushing out the rivers straight into your hands. When you make your home in the American land" - American Land (2006)

The swimming World Championships haven begun with an almighty bang as world records are broken as if they are nothing but the average finishing times for the swimmers. With day four starting today (Wednesday) it seems as though Barcelona 2013 will be a championships that will be forever remembered as one of the best. Also, not only will it be remembered for the performances but also for the age of those performing - swimming, it seems, is very much becoming a young athletes game as many of the gold medal winners have not even left secondary school yet. This in itself is enough to create an incredible excitement around the future of the sport. 

Having beaten Jessica Hardy's 2009 100m backstroke world record by completing her heat in 1 minute and 04.30 seconds, 16 year old Ruta Meilutyte was not able to break it again in the final but she still came away with the gold medal. The Lithuanian who won gold in London 2012 did not disappoint a year on from her fantastic games. "Being a part of history is absolutely amazing," said Meilutyte after she was awarded with the title of World Champion. The teenager is seen as a national treasure back in her homeland and with if the athlete can continue to this high level of performance in years to come then there is nothing stopping her from becoming one of the sport's greatest. Even though she is the best in the world at the moment, she still has a lot of work to do before reaching her full potential which is a scary yet amazing thought. 

Another record breaking teenager came in the form of American Katie Ledecky. Having already won the 400m, Ledecky went on to glide past the previous 1500m world record to win the race in 15:36.53, a whole 6 seconds quicker than the previous time set. Extraordinary. "It was really tough, my hardest race ever," stated the 16 year old who finished way ahead of her nearest rival, Danish athlete Lotte Friis. The American teenager will now hope to attain a triple crown as she looks set to add yet another gold to her overflowing number of titles in the 800 meters on Saturday. 

If that wasn't enough young success the teenagers kept on coming with another American and London 2012 swimming superstar, Missy Franklin, picked up a gold medal in the 100m backstroke. Before the young swimmer could have time to process what she had just achieved she was back in the pool setting the second fastest time in the 200m free semi-final. It's tough but it's fun," Franklin said. "I'm super happy with my 100 back. It really got me pumped up for the 200 free."  Franklin races in the 200m free final today and in being in the form that she, it seems unlikely that anything could get in the way of her and a third gold of these 2013 World Championships. 

With Britain yet to have won a gold medal it seems that it is the Americans that are running the show. Well, that is not including Ryan Lochte who was the 'Phelps' of the 2012 Olympics. The American could only manage fourth place in the 200m freestyle - 0.05seconds off the podium. The swimmer stated that "Tonight wasn't my night," However, he is a professional athlete and knows that losses happen, even to the best of them, and is looking forward to the rest of the championships - "Right now, I can't really dwell on it. I just have to forget about that race and move forward. I can't think about that (race) anymore. I wanted to do better. I didn't. One thing I know how to do is, I know how to brush off races and keep going forward."

Day 4 Finals: 1700 -1900: Men's 100m freestyle, SF; women's 50m backstroke, SF; men's 200m butterfly, F; women's 200m freestyle, F; men's 50m breaststroke, F; women's 200m butterfly, SF; men's 800m freestyle, F.