2022 Brazil Trophy Day 2 Prelims: Balduccini Cracks 2:00 in the 200 Free

2022 Brazil Swimming Trophy

• April 4-10, 2022
• Maria Lenk Water Park, Rio de Janeiro
• LCM (50m)
• Live Stream
• Live Results
• 2022 FINA ‘A’ Cuts

Tuesday morning’s prelims at the 2022 Brazil Swimming Trophy included the men’s and women’s 100 back, 50 fly, and 200 free.

One of the most exciting races tonight will assuredly be the men’s 50 fly. 18-year-old Gabriel Dias dropped a huge personal best of 23.64 to lead a star-studded field. 42-year-old Nicholas Santos, fresh off winning SC World Champs Gold in the SCM 50 fly in December, came in 2nd this morning with a 23.74. Santos holds the Brazilian Record at 22.60, a mark which he set at the 2019 World Championships. Right behind Santos this morning was Vini Lanza, coming in at 23.77. Marcelo Chierighini came in 4th at 23.78, while there were 3 other swimmers under 24 seconds this morning. Notably, this could be one of the events with the most FINA ‘A’ cuts achieved. The FINA standard sits at 23.63, which someone will need to hit tonight in order to qualify for the World Champs team.

In a fairly relaxed prelims of the men’s 200 free, Olympic Bronze medalist Fernando Scheffer led the field with a 1:48.48. Scheffer is notably already qualified for Brazil’s World Champs roster in the 200 free by virtue of his qualifying for the Olympic final in the event last summer. He holds the Brazilian and South American Records at 1:44.66. Murilo Sartori and Breno Correia, both of whom have personal bests of 1:46-point, will be in the A final tonight. The FINA ‘A’ cut stands at 1:47.06, and one other spot on the World Champs team is up for grabs since Scheffer is already in.

In the men’s 100 back, Guilherme Guido, 35, posted the top time of the morning with a 54.84. Guilherme Basseto, 25, was one-tenth behind, finishing 2nd with a 54.94. Besseto was notably out very fast, swimming a 25.48 on the first 50, the fastest opening split in the field by nearly a full second. Gabriel Fantoni, who just finished his collegiate career at Indiana University in the U.S., came in 3rd this morning with a 55.28. The FINA ‘A’ cut is 54.03. If Basseto is able to go out with the same speed tonight, but hold on better through the back half of the race, he should be able to achieve that time.

17-year-old Stephanie Balduccini swam the top time of the morning in the women’s 200 free by a decisive margin. Balduccini, who qualified for Brazil’s Olympic team on the 4×100 free relay last summer when she was just 16, clocked a massive new personal best of 1:59.45, getting under 2:00 for the first time in her career. She even-split the race, a rarity in the LCM 200 free, going out in 59.55 on the first 100, then coming home in 59.90. Baluccini has a bit of work left to do, however, as the FINA ‘A’ cut sits at 1:58.66.

In the women’s 50 fly, there was a tie for 1st this morning between Daynara Paula and Giovanna Diamente, both of whom clocked times of 26.83. The FINA ‘A’ cut is 26.32 in the event. Andrea Berrino led the women’s 100 back this morning, clocking a 1:02.55.