Athletes Get Second Shot At Olympic Cuts at 2021 Spanish LC Championships

2021 Spanish Long Course Championships

• Wednesday, March 24, 2021 – Sunday, March 28, 2021
• Sabadell, Spain
• Olympic Qualification Event
• LCM (50M)
• Results / Events Page

Spanish swimmers will get their second shot at Olympic qualification this week in Sabadell, Spain at the Spanish Long Course Swimming Championships. The meet will run from Wednesday, March 24 until Sunday, March 28, 2021.

Those participating will get a chance to secure their spot on Spain’s Olympic squad this summer. In December 2020, the country’s first 5 athletes qualified for the Games in the form of Mireia Belmonte (800m/1500m free), Hugo Gonzalez (100m back/200m IM) Jessica Vall (200m breast) Africa Zamorano (200m back), and Nicolas Garcia Saiz (200m back).

Several of Spain’s representatives at the 2019 World Championships will race this week. Among those entered on the men’s side is sprinter Juan Francisco Segura who raced the 50 free and 50 back at Gwangju 2019. While the 50 back isn’t an Olympic event, he will contest the 50 free and 100 backstroke this week to try and earn a spot on the team.

2019 World Championships team member and 2016 Olympian Joan Lluís Pons will also compete and is entered as top seed in both the 200 and 400 IM. Pons earned a fourth-place finish in the 400 IM at 2019 Worlds and was 8th in the event back in 2016. Notably, he’s not entered in the 200 fly which he swam at 2019 Worlds but didn’t advance past the prelims, winding up in 28th place.

While Jessica Vall has already qualified to swim the 200 breast at Rio, she will race the 100 breast this week with a shot at adding a second event this summer. She will be top seed in the 100 this week and will be joined by fellow breaststroker and 2019 Worlds competitor Marina Garcia.

Garcia is vying for a spot on her first Olympic team this summer as second seed in both the 100 and 200 breast, behind Vall in both.

Also looking at an Olympic debut is distance swimmer Jimena Perez who will race the same three events that she swam at 2019 Worlds; the 400 IM, 800 free, and 1500 free. In Gwangju, she placed 11th in the 800, 13th in the 1500, and 18th in the 400.

Lidón Muñoz will race her signature 50/100 freestyle double, entered as top seed, preparing for an attempt to qualify for the team. Muñoz joined the Spanish contingent at 2019 Worlds, making it to the semi-finals of the 50 freestyle where she finished in 13th and placing 29th in the 100 free.

The team will be qualified on the basis of FINA A cuts which are listed below:

Racing will take place over the course of 5 days and will following schedule:

Day 1

• Men’s / Women’s 100 Freestyle
• Men’s / Women’s 50 Butterfly
• Men’s / Women’s 100 Backstroke
• Men’s 1500 Freestyle
• Women’s 800 Freestyle

Day 2

• Men’s / Women’s 200 Freestyle
• Men’s / Women’s 50 Breaststroke
• Men’s / Women’s 100 Butterfly
• Men’s / Women’s 400 IM

Day 3

• Men’s / Women’s 200 Backstroke
• Men’s / Women’s 100 Breaststroke
• Men’s 800 Freestyle
• Women’s 1500 Freestyle

Day 4

• Men’s / Women’s 200 Butterfly
• Men’s / Women’s 50 Freestyle
• Men’s / Women’s 200 IM

Day 5

• Men’s / Women’s 200 Breaststroke
• Men’s / Women’s 50 Butterfly
• Men’s / Women’s 400 Freestyle