This is an exciting time for Brazilian swimming. They are coming off a first place finish at the World Short Course Championships in Doha and now their top swimmers will now be competing at the national championships over the next four days.
The Brazilian National Championships and Senior Daltely Guimaraes Trophy will be held in Rio de Janeiro from December 17th-20th. This is the 10th time the two meets will be held simultaneously.
The competition is the first of only two opportunities the Brazilian swimmers will have to qualify for the Pan American Games, the World Junior Championships and the World Championships. Their second opportunity will come in April at the Maria Lenk Trophy.
The event will include many of the country’s stars including; Thiago Pereira, Bruno Fratus, Felipe Silva, Nicholas Santos, Etiene Medeiros, Marcelo Chierighini, Felipe Lima, Joao Gomes, Cesar Cielo and Matheus Santana.
Two of those swimmers made curious decisions in their entries as Perira is not entered in the 400 IM, the event in which he won Olympic silver, while Cielo is not entered in the individual 100 freestyle.
Cielo will have a chance to qualify for the World Championships in the event if he chooses to swim the lead-off position in the 4 x 100 freestyle relay.
On the team side the Pinheiros have dominated this competition winning the trophy seven times since the event has been held in this format. They look to beat Minas who won the event last year.
Schedule of Events
Start times:
- Wednesday prelims – 9:00 am (6:00 am EST) finals – 5:30 pm (2:30 pm EST)
- Thursday prelims – 9:15 am (6:15 am EST) finals – 5:30 pm (2:30 pm EST)
- Friday prelims – 9:30 am (6:30 am EST) finals – 5:30 pm (2:30 pm EST)
- Saturday prelims – 9:30 am (6:30 am EST) finals – 5:30 pm (2:30 pm EST)
Wednesday 17/12
100m backstroke F and M / F 50m butterfly and M / F 50m breast and M / F free 800m / 1500m free M / 4x100m freestyle F and M
Thursday 18/12
200m freestyle F and M / 200m backstroke F and M / 100m butterfly and F M / 400m medley F and M / F and M 4x50m free
Friday 19/12
100m freestyle F and M / 200m breaststroke F and M / F 50m backstroke and M / 200m medley F and M / 400m freestyle F and M / 4x50m medley mixed
Saturday 20/12
200m butterfly F and M / F 50m freestyle and M / 100m Breaststroke F and M / 1500m free F / M free 800m / 4x100m medley F and M