D’Artagnan Dias contributed this report.
Chico Piscina is a long course competition for youth (born in 2000 and 2001) and juvenile (born in 1998 and 1999) swimmers in South America.
Final day highlights:
100free:
In the youth girls event, Rafaela Raurich (Paraná) won her third individual gold with 58.48. She just missed her CR from prelims (58.43). Raurich was ahead the whole time, flipping in 28.09 around a half second ahead of the field and she controlled the whole race to win. Stephanie Silva(São Paulo) picked up silver in 59.08 and Madja Chebaraka(Distrito Federal) finished in third with a 59.34.
In the youth boys, João Victor Pena(Mato Grosso do Sul) was in fourth place at the 50 turn (26.85), swimming in a very controlled pace, like he was swimming a longer race that a mere 100 meters. In the end, it paid off, because he was the only swimmer to break 55, winning in 54.60. Eduardo Martiniano(Rio de Janeiro) got silver in 55.11 and Vinicius Pelissari(Paraná) closed the podium with a 55.28.
The juvenile girls race was by far the best race of the Chico Piscina Trophy. The new CR holder, Sarah Marques (who was 57.14 opening Paraná’s 4x100free relay) opened strong, using a great start and underwater to turn in 27.03 at the 50 free mark, 0.65 ahead of Gabrielle Roncatto(São Paulo). But in the battle of 50 free winner(Marques) and the 200free winner (Roncatto), the endurance of the latter sealed the deal, with Roncatto closing in 28.32 to win in a new personal best and CR of 56 flat. Marques, who closed in 29.21 got silver in a new personal best too, 56.24. Maria Paula Heitmann(Minas) claimed bronze in 57.61. Notably, Roncatto now ranks 6th in the 100 free for all of Brazil and Marques is 8th.
The juvenile boys race was a one-man show. Felipe Ribeiro De Souza(São Paulo), sixteen year-old training partner of Matheus Santana, showed that his training setup has benefitted him, delivering awesome closing speed. Opening in 24.71, about 0.6 ahead of the field, he turned on the jets after the turn to close with 25.78, blasting a new CR of 50.49 (just shy of his 50.37 personal best). The second best closing speed was only 27.02 by Fernando Scheffer(Rio Grande do Sul), not enough to chase down Ribeiro, but enough for silver with 52.58. Gustavo Santos (São Paulo) was third in 52.85. Ribeiro become the first boy to win the 50, 100 and 200 free in the same Chico Piscina Trophy. In his post race interview, Ribeiro said he plans to chase the 49 mark till the end of the year. If he does that, it will be the first South American boy to do it at sixteen years-old. The age group best was done by Matheus Santana in the end of 2012 with a 50.25.
100back:
For youth girls, Maria Pessanha was ahead of the field the whole race, opening in 31.22 and closing in 33.32 to blast a 1:04.54 CR. Second was Fernanda Goeij(Paraná) in 1:06.95 with Argentina’s Aylen Arrieta getting bronze in 1:07.25.
In the youth boys division, a weak field gave the win to the only boy to flip in 29 (29.87), and the only to close in 30 (30.86), with Isaac Saraiva(Minas) winning in 1:00.73.Second was Chile’s Martin Baffico in 1:02.45 and third was Pedro Joaquim(Rio de Janeiro), bronze in 1:02.81.
For the juvenile girls, fifteen year-old Beatriz Silva (São Paulo) won in 1:06.08 (well off her personal best of 1:04.90), after passing in fifth at the 50 mark (32.75),but with a killer closing split (33.33). Erika Gonçalves (Espírito Santo) was second in 1:06.63 and Gabrielle Assis (São Paulo) was third in 1:07.24.
The juvenile boys race was a battle of two boys: André Augusto Dos Anjos (São Paulo) and Gabriel Araujo Fantoni (Minas Gerais). Dos Anjos was going after a fourpeat early, opening in 28.12 against a 28.15 from Fantoni. But Fantoni’s back half was much better, and a great finish killed Dos Anjos’s hopes. Fantoni won in a new CR in 57.74.Dos Anjos was Second in 58.13 and Maurício Nasri(São Paulo) was third in 59.50.
4x100medley relay:
In the youth girls division, the Paraná girls showed dominance, winning back to back Chico Piscina titles with a new CR in 4.27.10. São Paulo was second in 4:33.39 and Argentina was third in 4:35.32.
In youth boys, Minas won in 4:08.05 with Rio De Janeiro in second(4:08.72) and São Paulo in third with 4:11.24.
In juvenile girls, São Paulo won in 4:23.62, with Paraná second in 4:29.13 and Minas third in 4:32.15.
In juvenile boys, São Paulo won in 3:52.61 with Minas second in 3:54.94 and Argentina bronze in 4:01.06.
Felipe Ribeiro was the best performer (with 47points) and performance (50.49 in 100free) among the boys.
Rafaela Raurich was the best girl performer (with 57 points) and Gabrielle Roncatto was the best girl performance (56.00 in 100free).
São Paulo won the team title (463,5 points) with Paraná in second (368) and Minas Gerais in third (289).
final scores:
1 SÃO PAULO 463,50
2 PARANÁ 368,00
3 MINAS GERAIS 289,00
4 RIO DE JANEIRO 204,00
5 ARGENTINA 160,00
6 SANTA CATARINA 89,00
7 DISTRITO FEDERAL/DF 60,00
8 PERNAMBUCO 51,00
9 RIO GRANDE DO SUL 43,00
10 CHILE 38,00
The training with Santana is a time well spent.Ribeiro was a class apart.
Glad to see two sixteen years-old girls in 56 low(at 100free).While is a very weak time in US, in Brazil is a very strong one(South American record is only 54.72, and is a shiny suit record).