Today marked the final day of the 2015 Spanish National Championships in Barcelona and there was no shortage of record marks meeting their demise. Even without female Spanish superstar Mireia Belmonte, swimmers raced their way to national titles in record-breaking fashion.
Melani Costa Schmid, who won the women’s 800m freestyle earlier in the meet, clocked the swiftest time in the 200m freestyle also, winning in 1:57.83. Schmid was the only sub 1:58 racer of the field and her result earned her a new meet record, surpassing her own mark of 1:58.12 from 2014. Schmid also went on to earn the 200m backstroke title, an event that is becoming more of a regular part of the Spaniard’s schedule. Costa won the event today in 2:10.07 for her 2nd meet record of the session. Costa’s time was well over half of a second faster than the 2:10.69 on the books from Escarlate Bernard by 2009.
The men’s 200m freestyle winner was Miguel Duran, whose time of 1:48.73 also earned him a new meet record for his efforts. Duran swam past the previous mark of 1:49.35 held by countryman Antonio Alanso from 2008 and he also signified the only swimmer to dip beneath the 1:49 threshold today. As good of a swim as he had for himself today, Duran’s best time so far in 2015 is over a half of a second faster. He registered a 1:48.18 back in March in Malaga.
Yet another meet record fell in the form of Marc Sanchez, whose 7:59.93 800m freestyle squeaked into the record books by just one one-hundredth of a second, while Marina Garcia also set a new mark of 1:07.70 in the women’s 100m breaststroke.