UHW World Age Group 2026 : Daily Recap #4 

🇫🇷 Lire en Français

The competition is in full swing at the Gebze Olympic Swimming Pool in Türkiye. On this fourth day of the World Championships Age Group, several teams are beginning to pull away in the standings. The favorites in each category are starting to emerge, while other teams are struggling to keep up with the pace of the competition.

U19 Women

Colombia continue their impressive run and have now opened up a lead at the top of the standings. Still unbeaten, the Colombians even managed to defeat New Zealand early in the day, the only team that appeared capable of challenging their dominance. Despite the defeat, the New Zealanders remain in second place. They rescued their day in by beating Great Britain 12–0. France closed the gap on second place with two victories. They began the morning with a convincing win over Great Britain before comfortably defeating bottom-placed South Africa around midday. Türkiye also refused to give up. After losing to Colombia, they bounced back later in the day with a victory over Australia. The Australians, meanwhile, remain stuck near the bottom of the table, having collected just one point in four days of competition.

U19 Men

New Zealand moved to the top of the standings after an excellent day, taking first place away from Türkiye. The Turkish team had only one match to play today. Although they may have benefited from some extra rest, they were unable to overcome their opponents. Türkiye and New Zealand cancelled each other out, with the match ending in a 1–1 draw. The same scoreline was recorded between Great Britain and the United States, a result that does little to help the British, who currently sit fourth in the standings. They are now level on points with Colombia and Australia, whose strong performances today allowed them to climb significantly up the table. More importantly, Great Britain dropped valuable points against their direct rivals, France and Türkiye. The ranking remain extremely tight at the top. In the lower half of the table, however, four teams are struggling to prove themselves. The United States, Poland, China and South Africa continue to produce disappointing results and are now battling to avoid finishing last.

U24 Women

The women’s under-24 category is more balanced than the others. Five of the nine teams are separated by just four points. Türkiye missed an opportunity to break away from the chasing pack after losing their final match of the day against Australia. In fact, none of the teams competing in the category managed to win all of their matches today, meaning the suspense remains at its peak.
France were quite disappointing, getting only one draw and one defeat. In fact, they have dropped to seventh place in the standings. New Zealand, on the other hand, continue to dominate the competition. They remain unbeaten and appear to be operating on another level, striking fear into every other team in the tournament. It should nevertheless be noted that several teams have played one match fewer at the end of this fourth day: Argentina, Türkiye, New Zealand and France. Tomorrow will therefore be crucial for all four teams. The ranking could change completely during the final day of competition before the knockout stages begin.

U24 Men

There were few surprises in this category, as the leading teams continued to live up to their status. Australia ended the day with their sixth and seventh consecutive victories. They even defeated South Africa, the only team that appeared capable of challenging them. Just behind the South Africans, New Zealand and Colombia are waiting to take advantage of any mistake. Both teams are tied for third place with 15 points. Colombia remain close to the leading trio after securing two hard-fought victories over the Netherlands and Argentina. Even when facing difficulties, they are gradually pulling away from the rest of the field. They now need to confirm their strong form during the next day of competition. As in the women’s under-24 category, France have been disappointing and currently sit seventh in the standings. Their only victory came against the United States, who remain rooted to the bottom of the table after losing every match since the start of the World Championships. Great Britain have also struggled to collect points during the tournament. However, they managed to rescue their day by securing their first victory of the competition in the afternoon, also against the United States.

Tomorrow, July 22, will be a decisive day for certain teams; we’ll have to pull out all the stops to stay among the leaders in the final stages.