Night 4 of the Junior Pan American Games swimming competition was a quick one with only three events contested.
Winning two of the three events on the women’s side was Brazil’s Stephanie Balduccini. The Michigan-trained Paulista started off the night with a dead-heat win in the 50 freestyle. She and Colombian sprinter Isabella Bedoya both hit the wall in 25.42 to top the podium together. For Balduccini, this marks a small add from the 25.24 she threw down at Brazilian Nationals in April.
Bedoya, meanwhile, enters new territory with this time. She shaved over a half second off her 25.91 previous best today, and she now sits within striking range of Isabella Arcila’s 25.11 national record. Bedoya also brings Colombia back its first swimming gold in Asunción, catapulting the nation to 4th in the medal table behind Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico.
After the duo posed in a heart shape on top of the podium, Balduccini went back to work as a key leg of her country’s winning 800 freestyle relay. The foursome stopped the clock in 8:08.49, giving Balduccini her seventh win of the Games. Argentina came in second, while Colombia reaped bronze with a new national record of 8:14.66.
In between Balduccini’s two golds, Argentina’s Agostina Hein turned heads in the women’s 400 IM. Hein dominated the field and reset her best time from 4:41.75 to 4:38.41. Hein now sits less than a second from the 21-year-old Argentine record of 4:37.51. 11 seconds behind Hein, teammate Magdalena Portela touched in silver to make it a 1-2 for the country. Hein went on to break Argentina’s national record in the 200 free, now 1:59.45, on the lead-off of the country’s 4×200 free relay. The record previously belonged to Delfina Pignatiello.
Like the day before, the standout swim of the men’s meet went to Gui Caribe. He competed in the 50 free, sprinting to a 21.72 victory. This falls right in line with the times Caribe registered in Singapore a couple weeks ago. His best swim came from the prelims, when he went 21.67. He went on to place 10th in the semifinals with a 21.78. The Tennessee athlete’s lifetime best remains a 21.46 from his Nationals this spring.
Caribe’s Brazilian teammate Stephan Steverink got his fourth individual gold in as many days of competition. This time, he led the 400 IM final with a small personal best of 4:16.06. Guilherme Gustavo made it a 1-2 affair for Brazil in 4:18.15.
The Brazilian men made it three for three by taking the 800 free relay in 7:18.49. Mexico took sliver, and Chile established a new national record of 7:26.26 to round out the podium.
Medal Table After Day 4
| Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| Brazil | 20 | 8 | 5 | 33 |
| Argentina | 5 | 7 | 3 | 15 |
| Mexico | 2 | 5 | 5 | 12 |
| Colombia | 1 | 3 | 5 | 9 |
| Panama | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Puerto Rico | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Guatemala | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Chile | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Venezuela | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Jamaica | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Bahamas | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Peru | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Trinidad & Tobago | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Guyana | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Bermuda | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Uruguay | 0 | 0 | 1
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Wild that 4 Vols swept the 50 free mens podium. 4