2025 GIANT OPEN (FRA)
- Friday, May 9th – Sunday, May 11th
- Saint-Denis, France
- LCM (50m)
- Day 1 Recap
- Meet Central
- Results
History was made on day one of the 2025 Giant Open in Saint-Denis, France as Gabriel Martinez became the first swimmer from the Central American Isthmus to break the 50-second barrier in the men’s 100m freestyle.
Representing Honduras, Martinez fired off a lifetime best of 49.98 in yesterday’s heats of the event, capturing the #1 seed in the process.
21-year-old Martinez opened in 23.65 and closed in 26.33 to achieve the milestone, erasing his previous career-quickest mark and Honduran national record of 50.48 in the process. That former record was put up June of last year at the Spanish Championships.
Comparing his two performances, Martinez saved more speed on the back half this time around, beating his previous split by half a second.
| New Record – 49.98 | Old Record – 50.48 |
| 23.65 | 23.63 |
| 26.33 | 26.85 |
Martinez wound up finishing 6th overall at this competition, hitting a final time of 50.15 to tie host nation swimmer Yohann Ndoye-Brouard.
Already on day two, Martinez has kept up his momentum, producing a new national record in the 50m freestyle.
Racing in the heats this morning, Martinez clocked 22.93 to shave .02 off his previous national standard of 22.95 logged at the aforementioned Spanish Championships. He captured the 10th seed and will race in tonight’s B-final of the event.
