Teenagers Vieira, Balduccini Edge Veterans in Brazil Trials 100 Free Prelims

2021 BRAZILIAN OLYMPIC TRIALS

• Monday, April 19th – Saturday, April 24th
• Prelims at 9:30 am local; Finals at 6:30 pm local
• Long Course Meters (50 meters), prelims/finals
• Brazilian Olympic Selection Policy
• Meet Site
• Heat Sheets
• Prelims Schedule
• Finals Schedule
• Live Results

Five women dipped under 56 seconds in the 100 free prelims, led by Ana Carolina Vieira (55.15) and Stephanie Balduccini (55.34). The 19-year-old Vieira dropped over a second from a 2018 best, vaulting her to a tie for seventh all-time in Brazilian performer history and bringing her less than a second away from the FINA ‘A’ cut of 54.38. Balduccini, meanwhile, logged a massive best; the 16-year-old took down her old best of 58.21 by nearly three full seconds.

Alina Rodrigues, who won the 200 free earlier this week, was third in 55.65 for a new best. Meanwhile, veterans Etiene Medeiros (55.73) and Larissa Oliveira (55.84) were fourth and fifth, respectively. Oliveira (54.03 from 2016) and Medeiros (54.26 from 2015) are the top two performers in Brazilian history, but they’ll need to come near that form tonight to make a pass at the FINA cut.

Leonardo De Deus led a very sleepy 200 back prelims for the men, going 2:05.82, well ahead of Gabriel Fantoni‘s 2:11.19. De Deus holds the Brazilian record at 1:57.00, which is under the FINA cut of 1:57.50, but the field phoned it in as only six entrants were racing, so all of them are guaranteed spots in finals regardless of their time (as long as everyone swam legal swims, which they did).

The men’s 200 IM prelims were also sleepy, especially from Caio Pumputis, the fastest active 200 IMer in the nation. Pumputis, whose best time of 1:57.70 is almost two seconds better than the FINA cut, was last this morning at 2:12.06. Leonardo Santos, favored to also join Pumputis under the cut tonight with a PR of 1:58.83, took it easy with a 2:09.48 for fifth.

Racing to the wall instead were Conrado Lino (2:04.04) and Vini Lanza (2:04.38). Lino was about a second off of his best, while Lanza’s best of 1:58.10 makes him a third legitimate contender for a spot on the Olympic team for tonight’s final.

In the women’s 200 breast prelims, Gabrielle Da Silva nearly pushed past the 2:30 barrier, hitting a 2:30.89. She posted a 2:28.53 in March at the South American Championships, which was only about a second off of Carolina Mussi’s 2009 Brazilian record of 2:27.42. Meanwhile, the FINA ‘A’ cut needed is 2:25.52.