The Dominican Republic will host the quadrennial Central American & Caribbean Games at the end of the month. On the swimming front, the country will enter with momentum on their side thanks to two 15-year-old girls in the diaspora: Jianna Amores and Anabelle Perez.
Both girls, who live and train in the U.S., hit new national records in the month of June. Amores, who represents the South Florida Stallions in Miami, took a swing at the record book first. At the Ocala Sectionals at the start of the month, Amores became the first Dominican to go 26 in the women’s 50 fly. She stopped the clock in 26.94, pushing exactly a second ahead of the country’s #2 all-time Dorian McMenemy‘s from 2014. Amores’ versatility was on display that weekend, because she downed the 200 IM record later on in the weekend. She clocked a 2:21.00, splitting 29.98/34.99/43.10/32.93 to undercut her previous pb of 2:23.17 and establish a new DR record. Elizabeth Jimenez was previously the swiftest Dominican in the event with the 2:23.35 she ripped at last year’s Junior Pan American Games.
At the end of the month, Perez took her own stab at her country’s record book. Swimming at the Jeffrey S. Mace Memorial Summer Sizzle last weekend, Perez rocked a 32.78 in the 50 breast prelims. This was an incredible 1.01 second time drop from her previous 33.79 best, which was swum only two months prior at the Dominican Open. Perez is based in Philadelphia, and she trains with PDR Swimming for Success
Amores is a rising junior, while Perez is entering her sophomore year of high school. Swimcloud ranks Amores among the top ten class of 2028 college recruits.
Next on the Dominican Republic’s international calendar is the Panam Aquatics Championships in Ibagué, Colombia from July 8-12. Then, the party moves to home turf as Santo Domingo hosts the 25th Central American and Caribbean Games. Over 6,000 athletes from 37 countries are expected to attend the multi-sport event. Pool swimming will run from July 28-August 1st.
