Swimmer Maari Randväli sets two Estonian junior backstroke records
Sixteen-year-old swimmer Maari Randväli set two new Estonian youth backstroke records at the weekend.
Competing at the Winchester Autumn Qualifier 2025 in England, Randväli set a new national record in the 200-meter backstroke with a time of 2:10.42 and continued her strong form on Sunday, finishing the 100-meter event in 59.60, improving her personal best by nearly two seconds.
With the latter time, she broke Laura-Liis Valdmaa's 2019 youth record (1:01.43) as well as the junior record set by Margaret Markvardt in 2017 (1:00.34).
She also became the second Estonian woman, after Aleksa Gold ever to have broken the one-minute mark over 100 meters.
Randväli also put in some strong performances over others at the same competition, finishing first in the 100-meter freestyle among 16-year-olds (56.18) and placed sixth in the 400-meter freestyle (4:28.26).
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Editor: Kristjan Kallaste Andrew Whyte
