59th Slovakian Grand Prix
- March 5-7, 2021
- Šamorín, Slovakia
- Long Course Meters (50m)
- Results (currently not available)
15-year old Sasha Gatt of Malta, continues to improve and break Maltese records. Just a few weeks ago, Gatt broke her own national record in the 400 freestyle, swimming a 4:23.33, dropping nearly five seconds from her old record of 4:28.17 which was set in October of 2020.
This past weekend at the Slovakian Grand Prix, Gatt set two records in one event. Competing in the 1500 freestyle, Gatt broke the Maltese 800 record en route to breaking the 1500 record as well.
Gatt’s split at the 800 was 8:58.58 which broke her own Malta age group and national record from October of 8:59.54. Her final time of 16:53.34 broke her own record of 17:00.28 set in December. She finished second overall in the 1500 in Šamorín.
Gatt is the first and only Maltese swimmer to achieve an Olympic qualifying time. In the 1500 she is under the Olympic Selection Time (“B” standard) of 17:01.80, and 21 seconds away from the Olympic Qualifying Time (“A” standard) of 16:32.04. Her current times put her within eight seconds of the “B” standard in the 400 (4:15.34) and within 10 seconds in the 800 (8:48.76).
Gatt trains in Malta with Sirens ASC under the tutelage of coach Stan Ioan Catalin.
The Republic of Malta is a small island nation off the coast of Sicily with a land area of just 122 square miles and a population of just over half-a-million. The country sent 4 swimmers to the 2019 World Aquatics Championships, though Gatt was not among them. The country’s highest finisher at those World Championships was Mya Azzopardi, who placed 32nd out of 36 finishers in the women’s 200 IM in a time of 2:25.24.
The country usually relies on the IOC Universality program to send one male and one female swimmer to the Olympic Games. In Rio, Andrew Chetcuti finished 51st in the men’s 100 free in 51.37 while Nicola Muscat finished 53rd in the women’s 50 free in 26.60.
