SOUTH AMERICA: Small Rosters & Morning Swims Hint at Continental Pan Ams Focus

2019 FINA WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

• All sports: Friday, July 12 – Sunday, July 28, 2019
• Pool swimming: Sunday, July 21 – Sunday, July 28, 2019
• The Nambu University Municipal Aquatics Center, Gwangju, Korea
• Meet site
• Competition Schedule
• FinaTV Live Stream
• Entry Lists
• Results

Over the past 5 days in Gwangju, there has been a noticeable absence of evening swims from countries not named “Brazil”. In fact, Brazil is the only South American country so far to have advanced a swimmer out of the preliminary rounds at the meet. Among the other 11 South American nations represented at the meet, there are far fewer entries than 2017: down from 105 to 76.

Leading this trend are the continent’s next 3 sporting power players after Brazil: Argentina, Colombia, and Venezuela. In combination, those 3 (which represent 3 of the 5 countries that have won swimming medals in the history of this meet, and 3 of the 5 biggest populations in South America), entered 52 swims at the World Championships in 2017. In 2019, they are combined for just 22 – a 58% reduction.

The likely decrease is a huge focus on the 2019 Pan American Games, which still carry great cultural significance in South America and will be hosted in Peru this year: a South American country.

Some of these power players have explicitly said that the Pan American Games, where they have much stronger chances for medals, are their focus. Argentina, for example, is sending 17 to Lima but only have 3 pool swimmers in Gwangju. They said that they intended to not have a presence at the World Championships, but feared retribution from FINA for non-participation.

These countries have also been challenged to beat their seed times. The continent as a whole has been slower than seed in two-thirds of their swims and faster in one-third. Colombia, for example, has not had any swims beat seed times yet at this meet.

South American Swims vs. Seeds through Day 5, excluding Brazil:

South American Day 5 Notables:

During the men’s 100 free final, Brazilians Marcelo Chierighini and Breno Correia finished in 5th and 8th respectively. While Brazilian Etiene Medeiros failed to defend her 2017 title in the 50 back, she was able to earn a silver medal for Brazil.

South America — Day 5 Medal Table