Maria Fernanda Costa, Stephan Steverink Make Their Marks In 400 Free At Maria Lenk Trophy

2026 MARIA LENK TROPHY

• Monday, May 18th – Saturday, May 23rd
• Prelims at 9am local (8am ET)/finals at 6pm local (5pm ET)
• Julio de Lamare Aquatic Park, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• LCM (50m)
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The 2026 Maria Lenk Trophy kicked off yesterday from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with swimmers vying for slots on the nation’s roster for this year’s Pan Pacific Championships and Junior Pan Pacific Championships.

Multiple swimmers made the grade across both the women’s and men’s sides, led by South American record holder Maria Fernanda Costa.

23-year-old World Championships finalist Costa got the job done in the 400m free, putting up a solid result of 4:03.12 to dominate the field in a new meet record.

Gabrielle Roncatto was next to the wall over seven seconds behind in 4:09.34, as Beatriz Dizotti rounded out the podium in 4:10.78.

Costa owns the national and continental records in this event, courtesy of the 4:02.86 she put on the books en route to placing 4th at the 2024 World Championships. Her outing last night ranks her 8th in the world on the season.

Stephan Steverink turned some heads in the men’s version of the 400m freestyle, touching in a strong time of 3:45.26, the best outing of the 22-year-old’s career.

Entering this competition, Steverink ranked as Brazil’s 3rd-fastest man of all time as a result of his 3:46.71 PB established last August.

His time here, however, now frog-hops Eduardo Oliveira de Moraes to become the #2 Brazilian performer in history, sitting only behind Olympic finalist Guilherme Costa, who owns the national record and South America at 3:42.76 from Paris.

Steverink’s new PB qualifies him for the Pan Pacific Championships, as runner-up Artur Mello joins him on the roster in 3:47.09, which garnered him the silver.

Costa missed out, however, with the 27-year-old settling for bronze in a time of 3:48.03.

Steverink inserts himself into slot #9 in the season’s worldwide rankings.

Additional Notes

• The men’s 100m fly saw Manuel Bencomo hit a time of 52.23 to lead the pack, but Pedro Souza was right behind in 52.50. Gabriel Machuco bagged the bronze in 52.62.
• Giulia Carvalho proved too quick to catch in the women’s edition of the 100m fly, producing a gold medal-worthy result of 58.93. She opened in 27.08 and closed in 31.85 to get to the wall ahead of Joice Rocha, who qualified for the Junior Pan Pacs with a runner-up result of 59.38. Beatriz Bezerra also landed on the podium in 59.52, good enough for bronze.
• Gabrielle Silva secured the gold in the women’s 100m breaststroke in 1:09.72, the sole time of the field to delve under the 1:10 barrier.
• Caio Pumputis produced a mark of 1:00.19 as the top men’s 100m breaststroker, holding a comfortable lead over Hugo Gonzalez. Competing in this ‘off’ event, Gonzalez touched in 1:00.55, with Volodymyr Lisovets rounding out the podium in 1:00.69. Of note, the 4th-place finisher Kaua Carvalho put up a Jr Pan Pacs-worthy time of 1:00.95.