Beryl Gastaldello
Born Feb. 15, 1995 to parents, Eric and Véronique Gastaldello, Beryl Gastaldello is a butterfly, backstroke and freestyle specialist. She started swimming at 8 years old, and was the top international recruit according to collegeswimming.com’s 2014 recruiting class. Gastaldello is an NCAA All-American and a French National Team member.
College (Texas A&M)
Gastaldello made an impact on the conference and NCAA level right away for the Aggies – she was awarded the 2015 SEC Female Freshman of the Year. The business major claims that she chose A&M due to the team’s spirit, and she was also impressed by the university’s facilities.
2014-2015
At the SEC meet Gastaldello took 3rd in the 50 freestyle, swimming a sub-22 second time, 1st in the 100 butterfly and 2nd in the 100 backstroke. She also swam on multiple relays, including the 200 medley relay, where she posted the fastest fly split in history at the time.
At NCAA’s Gastaldello finished 10th in the 50 freestyle, 17th in the 100 butterfly and 6th in the 100 freestyle. She also added All-America honors as a member of the 200/400 medley relays and 200/400 freestyle relays.
2015-2016
At her 2nd SEC Champs, Beryl placed 5th in the 50 free (22.09), 2nd in the 100 fly (51.46), and 3rd in the 100 free (47.89). She helped the Aggies to top-4 finishes in the 200/400 free and medley relays, including a team title in the 400 medley.
At the NCAA championships, Beryl placed 5th in the 50 free (21.82), 13th in the 100 fly (52.01), and 4th in the 100 free (47.38). She also helped the aggies medley and free relays to 4 top-16 finishes.
2016-2017
At the SEC champ her junior season, Beryl placed 4th in the 50 free (21.95), 5th in the 100 fly (51.82), and 4th in the 100 free (48.02). She helped the Aggies once again to top-4 finishes in 4 relays, including a title in the 400 medley relay.
At the NCAA championships, Berly placed 12th in the 50 free (21.96), 23rd in the 100 fly (52.40), and tied for 6th in the 100 free in 47.54. She helped the aggies to a pair of 2nd place finishes in the medley relays and top-10 finishes in the 200/400 free relays.
2017-2018
At the NCAA championships, Beryl placed 5th in the 50 free (21.74) and the 100 free (46.98) and helped the Aggies to top-8 finishes in the 400 free, 200 medley, and 400 medley relays.
International Competition
In April 2015 Gastaldello broke the French national record in the 50m backstroke, a standard that had been held since 2007. At the 2015 French Nationals, she won the 50m butterfly title, just a few tenths behind the French national record. She qualified for the World Championships in the 50m butterfly, 50m backstroke, and 100m freestyle.
2015 World Championships
In Kazan, Gastadello broke another national record in the 50 back (28.02) in prelims, qualifying 8th overall. In semis, she added a couple tenths to her time and fell to 13th, not advancing to the final heat. In the 50 fly, she once again advanced to semis, this time finishing 14th overall, and in the 100 free she swam the prelims and finished in 21st.
2016 Olympic Games
In Rio, Beryl swam the 100 fly, finishing 25th in the prelims at 58.93. She also led off the 4×100 free relay that broke a French record in prelims and finished 7th overall and the 4×100 medley relay, would was DQ’ed in prelims.
2017 World Championships
In the 50 fly, Beryl once again advanced to semis, swimming a personal best in prelims (25.79) that set a new French record. She would go on to finish 15th in semis (26.02). She also finished 21st in the 100 fly (58.97).
2018 European Championships
Beryl won her first major international medals in Glasgow as a part of France’s women’s and mixed 4×100 free relays, swimming prelims of the mixed relay and anchoring the finals relay of the women’s (holding off Ranomi Kromowidjojo and the Netherlands for gold).
2020 ISL Budapest Bubble
Gastaldello was a revelation in her second ISL season with the LA Current, amassing a staggering 20 individual victories over six matches and six different events — 50 free, 100 free, 50 back, 50 fly, 100 fly, 100 IM. This includes her freestyle skins win in Match 3, and the number might’ve been even higher if breaststroke wasn’t the selected skins stroke in all five of her other matches. The season’s third match also saw her win MVP honors with 78 points.
In terms of times, Gastaldello reset the French National Record in the 100 free and 100 IM twice during the season, bringing her times down to 51.16 and 57.30, respectively, ranking her seventh and third all-time. At season’s end she was the league’s fastest swimmer in both the 100 IM and 100 fly (55.32).
The 2016 Olympian finished the season ranked third overall in individual points with 340.5, trailing only Caeleb Dressel (463.5) and Lilly King (350.0).
2020 Swammy Awards
Given her performance in season 2 of the ISL, Gastaldello earned the 2020 Swammy Award for European Female of the Year.
