2024 Spanish Winter Championships
- November 14-17, 2024
- Prelims at 9:30 local time (3:30 AM EST)/Finals at 6:00 local(noon EST)
- Centro de Natación M-86, Madrid, Spain
- SCM (25 meters)
- Meet central
- Psych sheet
Spain is among the several European countries gearing up for a short course national championships this weekend. Starting this Thursday, we’ll see many Spanish stars kick off their short course season. No Spaniards competed at the 2024 World Cup series, so this will be our chance to see what type of shape many of them are in heading into Short Course Worlds in Budapest.
Ten Spanish athletes have already earned a chance to swim in Budapest via their 2024 Olympic performances, but this meet will serve as a second qualification pathway into the national team.
The biggest name in Spain swimming right now, Hugo Gonzalez, will compete for the first time since his pair of 6th place finishes in the backstroke events at this summer’s Olympic Games. Gonzalez is the top seed in the 200 back as well as the 200 and 400 IM. He will also swim the 200 breastroke, in which he’s seeded third. As the 2024 Long Course World Champion of the 200 backstroke, this could be a checkpoint to see if he’s primed to defend his title.
Gonzalez is not the only world backstroke champion at the meet. Canadian national Kylie Masse is entered in the 50 and 100 backstrokes, seeded first in the latter. This is Masse’s first meet post-Paris. She will get a chance to respond to the slew of world record swims that long-time competitors Regan Smith and Kaylee McKeown have thrown down this fall. Her toughest competition at this meet could be 200 backstroke Spanish Olympic semifinalist África Zamorano.
Three other Olympic semifinalists will swim in Madrid this weekend: Arbidel Gonzalez, Laura Cabanes, and Emma Carrasco. Arbidel is seeded first in the 200 fly and second in the 100 fly. He already has a spot on the Worlds team in the 200, but to be competitive for a national title he will have to improve from his 1:58.54 he swam in the Czech Republic at the beginning of the month.
Carrasco looks like she could be the swimmer with the most finals appearances. She is the top seed in all three IM events and the 200 breaststroke, and she is in the top 5 in the 100 breast. She will face competition in the 200 and 400 IM from fellow Olympian Cabanes, who’s seeded second in both events.
Notably absent from the psych sheets are Olympic semifinalists Jessica Vall and Carmen Weiler. Vall, now a three-time Olympian, recently competed in her first triathlon. Weiler is in her junior year at Virginia Tech, presumably gearing up for NCAA midseason.
