2018 SPANISH SPRING OPEN (CAMPEONATO DE ESPAÑA OPEN DE PRIMAVERA)
- Saturday, April 7th – Wednesday, April 11th
- Aquatic Center of Málaga, Málaga, Spain
- Long Course Meters (50m)
- Live Results
- Prelims start at 3:30am ET, Finals at 11:30am ET (9:30am/5:30pm in Spain)
Day 4 of the 2018 Spanish Spring Open saw no new automatic qualifiers to the European Championships team, but did see another Spanish National Record fall. Lidon Munoz, who swam the 50 free 3 times and the 200 free once today, set a new Spanish Record in the semifinals of the 50 free. Munoz had a best time of 25.31 going into the meet, which was also the Spanish National Record, and finished just off that time in prelims (25.33). In semifinals, which occured at the beginning of the finals session, Munoz dropped a full tenth of a second off her personal best, posting a 25.21 to establish a new National Record. In the 50 free final, which was the last event of today’s finals, she was a little bit off, going 25.48, but still managed to win by nearly half a second.
Despite setting a National Record in semifinals, Munoz didn’t achieve either of the qualifying standards for the European Champs team, however, as the National Record holder in the 50 and 100 free, she will surely be on the roster in those events. Munoz also came in 2nd in the 200 free, shedding .15 seconds off her personal best with a 1:59.84. Spanish Record holder Melani Costa (1:56.19) won the event with a 1:58.91. Esther Morillo broke the Spanish Junior Record again in finals, posting a 2:01.52.
Hugo Gonzalez only had the final of the 200 back today, posting a 1:58.66 to win. Gonzalez was the only swimmer in the field to break 2:00 in any of his swims, going 1:58 in both his prelims and finals swims. Gonzalez’s splitting in finals was a little slow in the middle 100, going out in 27.98, followed by splits of 30.21, 31.03, and 29.44 respectively. He was 2 seconds off his best time of 1:56.69.
Mireia Belmonte swam only the 200 IM final today, winning the event with her fastest time since 2014. Belmonte posted a 2:11.31 to win by 7 seconds. She split the race well, posting a 28.60 on fly, 35.18 on back, 37.21 on breast, and 30.32 on free. Belmonte’s best time is 2:09.45, which is also the Spanish Record, and was set at the 2013 World Championships. She went 2:11.13 in 2014, and hadn’t broken 2:12 again until today.
