Micaela Sierra Breaks Uruguayan 100 Breast Record At UANA Day 2 – 1:12.13

2021 UANA TOKYO QUALIFIER

• April 29, 2021 – May 3, 2021
• Clermont, Florida
• Long Course Meters (LCM)
• Meet Site
• Results Available on Meet Mobile Under “2021 UANA Tokyo Qualifier”
• Day 1 Recap

The 2021 UANA Tokyo Qualifier, taking place in Clermont, Florida is serving as a qualifying meet for a number of Caribbean countries and has already yielded a number of national records.

Among those NRs broken on day 2 of the meet was the women’s Uruguayan 100 breaststroke mark which Micaela Sierra lowered to a 1:12.13 in to win the final, improving upon Nicole Frank‘s 1:12.70 from earlier this year. Sierra’s national record-breaking swim was quick enough for second place as Melissa Rodríguez Villanueva,  hit a 1:09.11 for gold. Emily Santos was a 1:12.22 for bronze.

On the men’s side, Josue Dominguez lowered his own Dominican Republic record from a 1:02.86 which he set in 2014 with a 1:01.25. Dominguez’s 1:02.86 allowed him to take gold in the event while Nils Wich-Glasen took silver in a 1:01.90 and Izaak Bastian earned bronze with a 1:02.33.

In the women’s 100 backstroke, Florida State’s Pia Murray notched a 1:02.94 for the win which was less than a second slower than her 2019 PB of 1:02.32. Murray’s swim was good enough to edge out McKenna DeBever‘s 1:02.99. That swim was an improvement upon DeBever’s previous best time of 1:03.40 from March 2021. Rounding out the top 3, Mexico’s Athena Meneses Kovacs was a 1:03.46 while Celina Marquez hit a 1:03.7 for third and Julia Podkoscieny rounded out the top 5 with a 1:03.81.

In the men’s 100 backstroke, University of Florida’s Clark Beach hit a 55.70 for the win, improving upon his 57.68 from the prelims but missing out on his PB of 53.95. After Beach, Diego Camacho Salgado came in with a new Mexican record of 55.76 for silver, lowering the mark from a 55.94 which Andy Song set back in 2014. Puerto Rican record holder Yeizel Morales rounded out the top 3 with a 56.11 to get within half a second of his 55.74 NR from March 2021.

In the women’s 200 freestyle, María José Mata Cocco established some distance between herself and the field by hitting a 2:01.16. That’s Mata Cocco’s second PB of the meet as she went in with a 2:02.64 and lowered it first to a 2:02.20 in the prelims. The swim also gets her within a second of the Mexican national record which Liliana Ibáñez brought to a 2:00.37 in 2012.

Athena Meneses Kovacs and Giulia Grasso joined Mata Cocco on the podium, hitting a 2:04.08 and 2:04.45, respectively.

The men’s 200 freestyle titles went to Jordanian swimmer and University of Florida graduate Khader Baqlah who hit a 1:48.10 for the win. Baqlah shaved nearly 3 seconds off his prelim swim of 1:51.03 but was still a little bit slower than his Jordanian record of 1:46.77 from 2018. Jorge Iga was silver with a 1:48.40 which trails his own Mexican record of 1:47.14 by just over a second. For third place, Alfonso Mestre was a 1:49.84.

Pine Crest Swim Team’s Julia Podkoscielny swam a 4:47.15 to win the women’s 400 IM to trail her best time of 4:44.83 from March 2021. Less than a second after Podkoscielny, UCLA swimmer Paige MacEachern touched with a 4:48.09 for silver, improving upon her prelim swim of 4:53.56 and her PB of 4:51.84. Florida State’s Ginerva Molino was a 4:54.80 in the final to take bronze.

In the men’s 400 IM, Texas A&M swimmer Hector Ruvalcaba Cruz posted a new Mexican record with a 4:19.01 for the gold medal while countrymate and University of Michigan swimmer Ricardo Vargas Jacobo was a 4:21.20 for silver. Florida’s Kieran Smith rounded out the top 3 with a 4:22.00.