Hugo Gonzalez Blasts 1:54.51 Spanish Record In 200 Back, Erases 2009 Mark

2024 SPANISH SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, June 18th – Saturday, June 22nd
• Palma de Mallorca, Spain
• LCM (50m)
• Olympic Qualifying Event
• Day 1 Recap |Day 2 Recap
• Results

Day 3 of the 2024 Spanish Swimming Championships saw the national record go down in both the women’s and men’s 200m backstroke events.

First, for the women, Carmen Weiler followed up her 100m back Spanish standard with a new mark in the longer event, posting 2:08.89 as the gold medalist.

Opening in 1:02.99 and closing in 1:05.90, 19-year-old Weiler overtook the national record of 2:09.13 Duane Da Rocha put on the books in 2014.

Entering this competition, Wieler’s lifetime best rested at the 2:11.21 notched in March of 2023, meaning the teen hacked well over 2 seconds off her best-ever to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. She now sneaks into the world rankings on the season in slot #25.

This evening, runner-up status went to Africa Zamorano, who scored 2:09.75 to also qualify for Paris, while Estella Nollgen rounded out the podium in 2:10.95.

Then in the men’s 200m back, 25-year-old Hugo Gonzalez fired off a new national record en route to victory.

Gonzalez, who already neared a lifetime best here of 52.71 in the 100m back, cranked out a result of 1:54.51 to beat the field by over four seconds.

Splitting 55.96/58.55, the Cal swimmer outperformed the longstanding national record of 1:54.92 Aschwin Wildeboer logged over a decade ago at the 2009 World Championships.

Ivan Martinez was relegated to silver in 1:58.68 while Diego Albaladejo notched 1:59.26 for the bronze.

Before this meet, Gonzalez’s career boasted a lifetime best of 1:55.30, a time he posted for gold at this year’s World Championships. That means he notched his first-ever time under the 1:55 barrier with tonight’s 1:54.51 gold medal-worthy performance.

Gonzalez remains #1 in the world on the season and becomes the #13 performer of all time in the men’s 200m backstroke contest.