2026 MARIA LENK TROPHY
- Monday, May 18th – Saturday, May 23rd
- Prelims at 9am local (8am ET)/finals at 6pm local (5pm ET)
- Julio de Lamare Aquatic Park, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- LCM (50m)
- SwimSwam Preview
- Meet Central
- Live Results
The 2026 Maria Lenk Trophy concluded over the weekend, with the six-day competition representing the primary opportunity for Brazilian swimmers to qualify for this year’s Pan Pacific Championships.
When the dust settled, it was Esporte Clube Pinheiros who rose to the occasion, with the Sao Paulo club earning the overall team trophy with 2310 points.
Minas Tênis Clube finished in second place with 2286 points, while Universidade Santa Cecília completed the podium with 1403 points.
“This work has been built up over a long period. There is a whole structure of dedication and hard work behind the results. Those behind the scenes worked very hard. I’m talking about the board, the communications team, the administrative staff… it’s an extremely competent and strong team that provides all the support for the work to happen in the pool. We gave it our all,” said André Ferreira, head coach of Pinheiros. (CBDA)
Breakout performers included South American record holder Maria Fernanda Costa, with the Unisanta reaping 137 points as the top female. In the men’s category, Minas Tênis Clube swimmer Hugo Oliveira of Spain accumulated the most points with 186 over the course of the meet.
At the conclusion of the competition, the Brazilian Aquatic Sports Confederation revealed the following list of swimmers selected for Pan Pacs.
Brazilian Roster for 2026 Pan Pacific Championships
Maria Fernanda Costa
Stephan Steverink
Arthur Melo
Murilo Sartori
Joao Gomes Junior
Gui Caribe
Guilherme Costa
Beatriz Dizotti
Stephanie Balduccini
Gabrielle Roncatto
Aline Rodrigues
Brazil placed 5th, last place, at the previous edition of the Pan Pacs, which occurred in Tokyo in 2018. There, Brazil earned 5 pieces of hardware, including 1 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze. Individual medalists included Joao Gomes Junior reaping men’s 100m breaststroke bronze, Vini Lanza earning men’s 100m fly bronze, Leonardo de Deus capturing men’s 200m fly silver and Ana Marcela Cunha taking the women’s 10k open water bronze. The men’s 4x100m free relay won the gold.
This time around, among the roster, Gui Caribe is a potential medal threat in the men’s individual 100m free, currently ranked 7th in the world as a result of the 47.60 he put up at the Maria Lenk Trophy.
Remarkably, at 40 years of age, Joao Gomes Junior has made yet another international roster, attempting to do some damage in the men’s breaststroke events.
On the women’s side, Costa currently ranks 9th in the world in the 800m free (8:23.98) and 8th in the world in the 400m free with the 4:03.12 nailed last weekend.
