Peru Names 4 Swimmers for 2024 Worlds Team

The Peruvian Swimming Federation has announced a four swimmer roster that will compete at the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar.

McKenna DeBever, Alexia Sotomayor, Diego Balbi, and Rafael Ponce de Leon will represent the country at the off-beat World Championships. Three of those four swimmers competed at the 2023 World Championships, making Peru one of the more complete rosters that have been announced so far.

The women, who both train in the US, are the stars of this team. DeBever, who was born in Los Angeles, was the 2021 South American Champion in the 200 IM. She is the veteran of the team at 27 years old and placed 24th in the 200 IM at the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Sotomayor, meanwhile, was born in Lima but trains at the Saint Andrew’s School in Florida. She placed 34th in the 200 back at the 2023 World Championships in 2:20.78, but her best time of 2:13.80 would probably make at least a semifinal in 2024 with many countries not sending complete teams.

She placed 7th in the 100 back at the 2022 World Junior Championships.

This week, she committed to swim at Arizona State for fall 2025.

Her Saint Andrew’s School teammate Diego Balbi (a USC commit) was also on the 2023 Worlds team, placing as high as 32nd in the 200 fly (2:03.61).

Rafael Ponce de Leon, meanwhile, makes his return to Worlds after missing the 2023 meet. In 2022, he finished 19th in the 1500 free and 24th in the 800 free. Like his teammates, Ponce de Leon trains in the US, where he’s a current senior at the University of Tennessee. He’s the only current college swimmer, though, meaning he’s the only one that faces a conflict from his scholastic commitments.

The pool swimming portion of the World Championships will be held from February 11-18, 2024, which means he could be back in time for the SEC Championships that begin on February 20. The 1500 free is on the final day of competition at Worlds.