Jana Pavalić

Jana Pavalić (born 27 May 2007) is a Croatian competitive swimmer. She is the Croatian record holder in the long course 50-metre freestyle, 100-metre freestyle, and 50-metre butterfly, as well as the short course 50-metre butterfly. At the 2022 World Junior Championships, she won the gold medal in the 50-metre butterfly with a Croatian record time of 26.38 seconds at 15 years of age. As a 14-year-old, she placed 24th in the 50-metre butterfly, 28th in the 50-metre freestyle, and 37th in the 100-metre freestyle at the 2021 World Short Course Championships.

Jana Pavalić

Personal information
National team	Croatia
Born	(2007-05-27) 27 May 2007 (age 17)[1] Croatia
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Butterfly, freestyle
Coach	Ivica Androić[2]
Medal record Women's swimming Representing  Croatia Event 1st 2nd 3rd World Junior Championships 1 0 0 European Junior Championships 0 1 1 European Youth Olympic Festival 1 1 0 Total 2 2 1 World Junior Championships 2022 Lima 50 m butterfly European Junior Championships 2021 Rome 50 m freestyle 2022 Otopeni 50 m butterfly European Youth Olympic Festival 2022 Banská Bystrica 50 m freestyle 2022 Banská Bystrica 100 m freestyle

Background

In 2022, Pavalić announced her goal of competing at the 2024 Summer Olympics.^[2][3] She trains under the guidance of Ivica Androić.^[2]

Career

2021

On 5 June, at the 2021 Croatian National Championships in Rijeka, Pavalić won the gold medal in the 50-metre freestyle with a Croatian record time of 25.66 seconds, which was 2.23 seconds faster than the silver medalist.^[4] Later in the month on 27 June, which marked one month after she turned 14 years old, she set a second national record, this time in the 50-metre butterfly with a time of 26.50 seconds to win the silver medal at the Zlatni Medvjed in Zagreb.^[5][6]

2021 European Junior Championships

2021 European Junior Championships
	50 m freestyle	25.35

At the 2021 European Junior Swimming Championships, held in July in Rome, Italy, Pavalić won the silver medal in the 50-metre freestyle with a time of 25.35 seconds, which was less than five-tenths of a second behind gold medalist Daria Tatarinova of Russia.^[7][8][9] En course to her silver medal, she set a new Croatian record in the event in the semifinals with a personal best time of 25.28 seconds after first lowering her Croatian record to a 25.64 in the preliminaries.^[6][7] In her other events, she placed twelfth in the 4×100-metre mixed medley relay, thirteenth in the 100-metre freestyle with a Croatian record time of 56.16 seconds (which she tied in the semifinals after establishing in the preliminary heats), eighteenth in the preliminaries of the 100-metre butterfly in 1:01.50 before withdrawing from the semifinals, and she did not start the 50-metre butterfly.^[7]

While Pavalić's Croatian record time of 25.28 seconds in the 50-metre freestyle was 0.23 seconds faster than the Olympic selection time, it was not achieved in the qualifying time period for the 2020 Summer Olympics, which ended on 27 June.^[10] Her earlier Croatian record time of 25.66 seconds was achieved in the qualifying time period, on 5 June, however, it was 0.15 seconds slower than the selection time and thus she was not invited to compete at the 2020 Olympic Games by the International Olympic Committee, instead the Team Croatia spot went to female swimmer Ema Rajić who achieved an Olympic selection time in a different event.^[10][11]

2021 Swimming World Cup

In October, at the 2021 FINA Swimming World Cup stop held at Danube Arena in Budapest, Hungary, and conducted in short course metres, Pavalić placed ninth in the 50-metre butterfly with a Croatian record and personal best time of 26.34 seconds, breaking the former record set by Monika Babok in 2009.^[12][13][14] In her other events, she placed fourth in the 4×50-metre mixed medley relay with a 1:45.84, twelfth in the 50-metre freestyle with a time of 25.18 seconds, twenty-second in the 100-metre freestyle with a 56.26, and was disqualified in the 4×50-metre mixed freestyle relay.^[15] The month following the World Cup, she competed at the Miting Mladost in Zagreb, setting a new Croatian record of 59.16 seconds in the short course 100-metre butterfly.^[1][16]

2021 World Short Course Championships

As a 14-year-old in December, Pavalić competed at the 2022 World Short Course Championships, contested at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, placing 37th on day two of competition in her first event, the 100-metre freestyle, with a time of 55.45 seconds.^[17] The following day, she placed 24th in the 50-metre butterfly with a time of 26.47 seconds.^[18] Two days later, she achieved a 28th-place finish in the 50-metre freestyle with a personal best time of 25.09 seconds.^[19][20]

2022

2022 European Junior Championships

2022 European Junior Championships
	50 m butterfly	26.76

In the preliminary heats of the 4×100-metre freestyle relay on day one of the 2022 European Junior Swimming Championships, held in July in Otopeni, Romania, Pavalić set a new Croatian record in the 100-metre freestyle with a time of 56.09 seconds, helping qualify the relay to the final ranking eighth with a Croatian record time of 3:49.81.^[21][22] She led-off the relay with a 56.10 in the final to help place eighth with a Croatian record time of 3:49.56 and the following day placed eighth in the 4×100-metre mixed freestyle relay, anchoring the relay to a finish in a Croatian record time of 3:34.28 with a split time of 56.92 seconds.^[23] On the third day of competition, she placed fifth in the 50-metre freestyle with a time of 25.45 seconds, finishing 0.23 seconds behind gold medalist Nina Jazy of Germany.^[22] The fourth day, she helped place fifteenth in the 4×100-metre mixed medley relay in 4:06.58, splitting a 1:04.63 for the butterfly leg of the relay.^[23] The sixth and final day, she won a bronze medal in the 50-metre butterfly with a time of 26.76 seconds, which was 0.13 seconds slower than silver medalist Roos Vanotterdijk of Belgium.^[22]

2022 European Youth Olympic Festival

On 26 July, Pavalić won the silver medal in the 100-metre freestyle as part of swimming competition at the 2022 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia, finishing second in 56.33 seconds.^{[24][25][26][27]} Three days later, she won the gold medal in the 50-metre freestyle, finishing first over three-tenths of a seconds ahead of the silver medalist with a time of 25.61 seconds.^{[26][27][28][29]}

2022 World Junior Championships

2022 World Junior Championships
	50 m butterfly	26.38 (NR)

For her first event of the 2022 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships, held in August and September in Lima, Peru, Pavalić won the gold medal in the 50-metre butterfly at 15 years, 98 days of age with a Croatian record time of 26.38 seconds, which was 0.29 seconds faster than silver medalist Beatriz Bezerra of Brazil.^{[30][31][32][33][34][35][36]} In her second and final event, the 50-metre freestyle, she placed fourth with a time of 25.62 seconds, finishing 0.02 seconds behind bronze medalist Matilde Biagiotti of Italy.^[37] This marked an improvement from the semifinals the day before, where she ranked fifth with a time of 25.96 seconds to qualify for the final.^[38]

International championships (50 m)

Meet	50 freestyle	100 freestyle	50 butterfly	100 butterfly	4×100 freestyle	4×100 mixed freestyle	4×100 mixed medley
EJC 2021		12th	DNS	18th (h,WD)			12th
EJC 2022	5th				6th	8th	15th
WJC 2022	4th

International championships (25 m)

Meet	50 freestyle	100 freestyle	50 butterfly
WC 2021	28th	37th	24th

Personal best times

Long course metres (50 m pool)

Event	Time		Meet	Location	Date	Age	Notes	Ref
50 m freestyle	25.28	sf	2021 European Junior Championships	Rome, Italy	10 July 2021	14	NR	[7][6]
100 m freestyle	56.09	h, r	2022 European Junior Championships	Otopeni, Romania	5 July 2022	15	NR	[21][22]
50 m butterfly	26.38		2022 World Junior Championships	Lima, Peru	2 September 2022	15	NR	[30][31][32][33][34][35][36]
100 m butterfly	1:01.01		Miting Zlatni Medvjed	Croatia	26 June 2021	14		[1]

Legend: NR – Croatian record;
Records not set in finals: h – heat; sf – semifinal; r – relay 1st leg; rh – relay heat 1st leg; b – B final; † – en route to final mark; tt – time trial

Short course metres (25 m pool)

Event	Time		Meet	Location	Date	Age	Notes	Ref
50 m freestyle	25.09	h	2021 World Short Course Championships	Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	20 December 2021	14		[20]
100 m freestyle	55.06		Miting Mladost	Zagreb	14 November 2021	14		[1]
50 m butterfly	26.34	h	2021 Swimming World Cup	Budapest, Hungary	8 October 2021	14	NR	[12][13][14]
100 m butterfly	59.16	h	Miting Mladost	Zagreb	13 November 2021	14	Former NR	[16]

Legend: NR – Croatian record;
Records not set in finals: h – heat; sf – semifinal; r – relay 1st leg; rh – relay heat 1st leg; b – B final; † – en route to final mark; tt – time trial

National records

Long course metres (50 m pool)

No.	Event	Time		Meet	Location	Date	Age	Status	Ref
1	50 m freestyle	25.66		2021 Croatian National Championships	Rijeka	5 June 2021	14 years, 9 days	Former	[4]
2	50 m butterfly	26.50		35th Zlatni Medvjed	Zagreb	27 June 2021	14 years, 31 days	Former	[5][6]
3	100 m freestyle	56.16	h	2021 European Junior Championships	Rome, Italy	7 July 2021	14 years, 41 days	Former	[7][16]
4	100 m freestyle (2)	56.16	sf, =	2021 European Junior Championships	Rome, Italy	7 July 2021	14 years, 41 days	Former	[7][16]
5	50 m freestyle (2)	25.64	h	2021 European Junior Championships	Rome, Italy	10 July 2021	14 years, 44 days	Former	[6][7]
6	50 m freestyle (3)	25.28	sf	2021 European Junior Championships	Rome, Italy	10 July 2021	14 years, 44 days	Current	[6][7][16]
7	100 m freestyle (3)	56.09	h, r	2022 European Junior Championships	Otopeni, Romania	5 July 2022	15 years, 39 days	Current	[21][22]
8	4×100 m freestyle	3:49.81	h	2022 European Junior Championships	Otopeni, Romania	5 July 2022	15 years, 39 days	Former	[23]
9	4×100 m freestyle (2)	3:49.56		2022 European Junior Championships	Otopeni, Romania	5 July 2022	15 years, 39 days	Current	[23]
10	4×100 m mixed freestyle	3:34.28		2022 European Junior Championships	Otopeni, Romania	6 July 2022	15 years, 40 days	Current	[23]
11	50 m butterfly (2)	26.38		2022 World Junior Championships	Lima, Peru	2 September 2022	15 years, 98 days	Current	[30][31][32][33][34][35][36]

Legend: h – preliminary heat; sf – semifinal; r – relay 1st leg; = – tied pre-existing record

Short course metres (25 m pool)

No.	Event	Time		Meet	Location	Date	Age	Status	Ref
1	50 m butterfly	26.34	h	2021 Swimming World Cup	Budapest, Hungary	8 October 2021	14 years, 134 days	Current	[12][13][14]
2	100 m butterfly	59.16	h	Miting Mladost	Zagreb	13 November 2021	14 years, 170 days	Former	[1][16]

Legend: h – preliminary heat

Awards and honours

• Zagorje.com, Krapina-Zagorje County Women's Best in Sport (Swimming): 2022^[39]

References

1. "Jana Pavalic". FINA. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
2. Beluhan, Renata (15 July 2022). "Tvorac zagorskog plivačkog čuda: 'Ona je iznimna, u sprintu je jedna od trenutno najvećih talenata!'" (in Croatian). Jutarnji list. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
3. Zrinščak, Tomislav (9 September 2022). "Jana Pavalić:"Jako sam sretna nisam očekivala ovakav doček, veliko hvala svima"" (in Croatian). zagorje.com. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
4. "Ekipno C prvenstvo Hrvatske: 1. 50m SLOBODNO, Plivačice - C ekipno prvenstvo" (in Croatian). croswimspace.org. 5 June 2021. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
5. "35. Međunarodno plivačko natjecanje "ZLATNI MEDVJED": 65. 50m LEPTIR, Plivačice - A i B finale" (in Croatian). croswimspace.org. 27 June 2021. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
6. Žukina, Predrag (10 July 2022). "Hrvatska ima novo sportsko čudo! Senzacija u Rimu, 14-godišnjakinja opet srušila seniorski rekord!" (in Croatian). Jutarnji list. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
7. LEN (12 July 2021). "LEN European Junior Swimming Championships Rome - Italy: Complete Results Book". Microplus Informatica. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
8. Bradovski, Mihaela (12 July 2021). "Jana Pavalić osvojila srebro na Europskom juniorskom prvenstvu u plivanju" (in Croatian). Sportnet.hr. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
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10. "TOKYO 2020 OLYMPIC GAMES: Qualifying Time Standards - SW". FINA. 21 January 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
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12. FINA (8 October 2021). "FINA Swimming World Cup 2021 Budapest (HUN): Women's 50m Butterfly Heats Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
13. Bauer, Dean (8 October 2021). "Nevjerojatan uspjeh 14-godišnje HR senzacije! Srušila apsolutni državni rekord u briljantnoj izvedbi" (in Croatian). Jutarnji list. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
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15. FINA (9 October 2021). "FINA Swimming World Cup 2021 Budapest (HUN): Results Book". Omega Timing. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
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17. FINA (17 December 2021). "15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Women's 100m Freestyle Heats Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
18. FINA (18 December 2021). "15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Women's 50m Butterfly Heats Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
19. FINA (20 December 2021). "15th FINA World Swimming Championships 2021 Abu Dhabi (UAE): Women's 50m Freestyle Heats Results Summary". Omega Timing. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
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21. Dragičević, Toma (5 July 2022). "Zapamtite ova imena! Mlade Hrvatice u juniorskoj konkurenciji tri puta rušile seniorske rekorde" (in Croatian). Jutarnji list. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
22. Zrinščak, Tomislav (11 July 2022). "Jana Pavalić brončana na 50 leptir na Europskom juniorskom prvenstvu u Rumunjskoj" (in Croatian). zagorje.com. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
23. LEN (10 July 2022). "Romania 2022 LEN European Junior Swimming Championships: Complete Results Book". Microplus Informatica. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
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25. "EYOF 2022: Srebrne Ćurković i Pavalić" (in Croatian). Glas Istre. 27 July 2022. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
26. "Vratili se hrvatski sportaši s dosad najtrofejnijeg EYOF-a" (in Croatian). Croatian Radiotelevision. 31 July 2022. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
27. "Jana Pavalić - novi uspjesi šampionke iz Gornje Stubice" (in Croatian). kzz.hr. 2 August 2022. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
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29. "BANSKA BYSTRICA: Plivačica Jana Pavalić osvojila zlato na 50 m slobodno, ukupno 5. zlato za Hrvatsku" (in Croatian). Fenix Magazin. 30 July 2022. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
30. Miličić, Dubravko (2 September 2022). "Lijepa naša u Peruu: Stubičanka Jana Pavalić svjetska prvakinja u plivanju, skinula je i rekord!" (in Croatian). 24sata. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
31. Krnjić, Robert (3 September 2022). "Nevjerojatna 15-godišnja Hrvatica je najbrža na svijetu! Pogledajte što je noćas napravila na SP-u" (in Croatian). Jutarnji list. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
32. Zrinščak, Tomislav (3 September 2022). "Nenadmašna Jana Pavalić svjetska juniorska prvakinja na 50 leptir" (in Croatian). zagorje.com. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
33. "Jana Pavalić svjetska prvakinja u plivanju, srušila i hrvatski rekord!" (in Croatian). Croatian Radiotelevision. 3 September 2022. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
34. "Plivačica Jana Pavalić je svjetska juniorska prvakinja" (in Croatian). Index.hr. 3 September 2022. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
35. "Hrvatska himna u Peruu, Jana Pavalić osvojila svjetsko zlato" (in Croatian). maxportal.hr. 3 September 2022. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
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External links

• Jana Pavalić at World Aquatics