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)
On the final day of the 2018 Spanish Spring Open, Mireia Belmonte capped off a perfect meet, winning her 6th of 6 events. Belmonte took the women’s 400 IM with a 4:37.10, which is the 4th fastest time in the world this year. She went 4:38.91 in prelims, coming in well under the European Championships qualifying standard in both races. That marks Belmonte’s 6th win of the meet and 6th automatic qualification to the Spanish Euros team.
Jon Lluis Pons took the men’s 400 IM by 8 seconds, posting a 4:14.77 in finals. Pons wasn’t too far off his own Spanish National Record of 4:13.55, which he swam at the 2016 Olympics. He split pretty well in all 4 strokes, going 58.11, 1:05.36, 1:11.57, and 59.73 respectively. In prelims, Pons went 4:18.10. Both of Pons races came in under the Euros qualifying standards, making Joan Lluis Pons the 6th swimmer to automatically qualify to the Spanish European Champs team.
Hugo Gonzalez swam the 50 back instead of the 400 IM on Day 5, winning the final with a 25.54. He went 25.64 in prelims, and 26.38 in semifinals. Gonzalez was about 2-tenths of a second off his best time of 25.30. Gonzalez failed to automatically qualify to Euros in this event, but if the 50 back is an event he’s interesting in swimming at Euros, he’s all but guaranteed a spot on the roster.
