2019 PAN AMERICAN GAMES
- Villa Deportiva Nacional – Videna, Lima, Peru
- Tuesday, August 6th – Saturday, August 10th (pool swimming)
- Prelims 11 AM / Finals 8:30 PM (local time/US Central Time)
- Official Website
- Entry List
- Live Results
Although the United States maintained its big lead in the overall swimming medal table through the penultimate finals session of the 2019 Pan American Games, the nation of Brazil saw its best night yet. The South American nation collected 3 gold medals on night 4, bringing its total up to 9, with 25 pieces of hardware in all.
Standing atop the podium in the men’s 50m free was World Championships silver medalist Bruno Fratus. The 30-year-old won the fast and furious race in a time of 21.61, holding off Americans Nathan Adrian and Michael Chadwick, who took silver and bronze, respectively.
For Fratus, the man had finished with Pan American silver at the last 2 editions of these Games, so tonight was extra special in that he upgraded to gold with his 3rd podium appearance as the charm.
Fratus’ gold here immediately following his silver in Gwangju is especially remarkable considering the veteran had undergone shoulder surgery just this past September, having only returned to racing in February of this year.
Adrian’s time of 21.87 was also remarkable, with the American having battled back from testicular cancer only recently, now racing his way to a spot on the U.S. National Team roster with his silver medal-worthy swim. You can read more about Adrian’s impressive string of sub-22 second performances here.
Etiene Medeiros won the women’s edition of the 50m free to give Brazil another gold on the night, with the 28-year-old adding another individual prize to her previous bronze here in the women’s 100m backstroke.
Medeiros fired off a time of 24.88 to represent the only 50m freestyler of the final to dip under the 25-second threshold, with Americans Margo Geer and Madison Kennedy touching behind the Brazilian in respective efforts of 25.03 and 25.14.
Medeiros’ gold tonight is a consolation for her lackluster performance in this sprint event at the World Championships where she wound up just 23rd in a time of 25.26 after heats, despite carrying a season-best of 24.53 into Gwangju from April’s Brazil Trophy.
Brazil’s final gold came in the form of the men’s 4x200m free relay, where the combination of Luiz Melo, Fernando Scheffer, Joao De Lucca, and Breno Correia collectively clocked a time of 7:10.66 to successfully defend the nation’s title from 2015.
Drew Kibler of America gave his nation the fastest split of 1:47.31 en route to their silver in 7:14.82, while Mexico broke its national record en route to bronze in 7:19.43.
America’s Charlie Swanson raced the swim of his life en route to gold in the men’s 400m IM, clocking a monster swim of 4:11.46 to nearly break the Pan American Games Record to become the 7th fastest American performer of all-time in the event.
The women’s 400m IM saw Tessa Cieplucha surge to the wall first in a time of 4:39.90, giving Canada its first gold medal in swimming at these Pan American Games.
Swimming Medals Through Day 4 of the 2019 Pan American Games
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | United States | 17 | 13 | 7 | 37 |
| 2 | Brazil | 9 | 7 | 9 | 25 |
| 3 | Argentina | 3 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| 4 | Canada | 1 | 7 | 5 | 13 |
| 5 | Guatemala | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | Mexico | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 |
| 6 | Colombia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 7 | Trinidad & Tobago | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals | 30 | 30 | 30 | 90 | |