Belmonte Races 400 IM, 400 Free & 200 Fly In Under An Hour In Amsterdam

2019 SWIM CUP AMSTERDAM

• Friday, December 13th – Sunday, December 15th
• Amsterdam, Netherlands
• LCM
• Entry List
• SwimSwam Preview
• Day 1 Recap
• Live Results
• Live Stream

Day 2 Highlights

After winning the women’s 1500m freestyle last night at the Swim Cup Amsterdam in an Olympic-qualifying time, Spain’s Mireia Belmonte didn’t fare as well on night 2, although it wasn’t for lack of trying.

The 29-year-old 200m fly Olympic champion from Rio took on a grueling program this evening, racing the women’s 400m free, 400m IM and 200m fly over a span of just 50 minutes.

The Spaniard won the women’s 400m IM against teammate and reigning World Junior Champion Alba Vazquez, with Belmonte touching in 4:44.16 to Vazquez’s 4:46.51. The women were well off their bests, however, as well as the Olympic qualifying time of 4:38.53 needed to etch their names on the Spanish roster for Tokyo.

Belmonte’s next event was the 400m free, where the veteran took 3rd in a time of 4:13.80. Getting her hand on the wall first was British swimmer Holly Hibbott. The Commonwealth Games medalist reaped a time of 4:07.02, about 2 seconds off of her PB of 4:05.01 that renders her the 4th fastest Brit of all-time in the event.

Finally, Belmonte raced the women’s 200m fly where she wound up 4th in a time of 2:16.09. The entire field wasn’t particularly fast, as winner Julia Pujadas of Spain touched in 2:12.07, well off the 2:08.43 needed for Tokyo.

Big swims tonight came in the form of Arjan Knipping and Joan Lluis Pons each getting under the Olympic-qualifying cut in the men’s 400m IM. Knipping of the Netherlands got it done for gold in a time of 4:15.12, while Pons of Spain touched just over half a second later in 4:15.74. Both men dipped under the 4:15.84 needed for Tokyo.

Arno Kamminga also crushed a head-turning swim, knocking his 100m breast Dutch national record down from 58.98 to a blazing 58.65. You can read more about the 24-year-old’s race here.