Guilherme Costa Clocks 800 Free South American Rec To Wind Down Jose Finkel

2021 JOSE FINKEL TROPHY (BRAZILIAN SWIMMING C’SHIPS)

Two national records bit the dust to conclude the 2021 Jose Finkel Trophy in Bauru, Brazil. The meet represented the sole qualifying opportunity for this year’s World Short Course Championships, set to take place in Abu Dhabi in December.

Saving his best for last, 22-year-old Guilherme Costa roared to the wall in a time of 7:41.95 to reap gold in the men’s 800m freestyle.

En route to hitting the wall first, Costa clocked the first-ever sub-7:42 time for a Brazilian, with his outing here in Bauru overtaking the previous national standard of 7:42.79 Miguel Valente put on the books in 2016. Valente’s mark also represented the South American record, meaning Cost now overtook that achievement as well.

Entering this meet, Costa’s personal best in this SCM 800 free event rested at the 7:45.29 he posted at this same meet two years ago. However, splitting as he did below, Costa entered new territory for his nation.

The other national record came in the form of Pamela Souza‘s performance in the women’s 200m breaststroke. Souza threw down a time of 2:22.69 to beat out reigning South American record holder Julia Sebastian of Argentina to top the podium.

Sebastian settled for silver in 2:23.79 while Souza’s 2:22.69 overtook the previous Brazilian national standard of 2:23.63 that’s been on record from Carolyne Mazzo’s swim 3 years ago.

Souza’s effort there hacked nearly 3 seconds off of her own previous PB of 2:25.35 from the 2018 edition of this Jose Finkel Trophy.

Additional winners on the night included Guilherme Guido firing off a time of 49.75 to take the top spot in the men’s 100m backstroke, edging out Indiana Hoosier Gabriel Fantoni‘s time of 50.05. They both easily cleared the standard of 51.30 needed for the SC World Championships.

The men’s 50m free also saw a quick swim, courtesy of Michigan’s Luis Gustavo Borges. Borges got his hand on the wall in a time of 21.19, beating out Marcelo Chierighini‘s second-place effort of 21.47.

Finally, Caio Pumputis continued on his tear of statement-making swims, this time taking on the 200m breast and 100m IM double. The Pinheiros swimmer first grabbed gold in the 200m breast in a time of 2:03.33 and followed up with a winning mark of 52.11 in the 100m IM. Both times are good enough to notch his name onto the SC World Championships roster.

Look for a follow-up post with final team scores and the team roster for Brazil for this year’s World Championships (SCM).

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About Retta Race

Retta Race

Former Masters swimmer and coach Loretta (Retta) thrives on a non-stop but productive schedule. Nowadays, that includes having just earned her MBA while working full-time in IT while owning French 75 Boutique while also providing swimming insight for BBC.

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