2019 FINA WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS
- All sports: Friday, July 12 – Sunday, July 28, 2019
- Pool swimming: Sunday, July 21 – Sunday, July 28, 2019
- The Nambu University Municipal Aquatics Center, Gwangju, Korea
- Meet site
- Competition Schedule
- FinaTV Live Stream
- Start Lists
- Results
On day 1, we wrote about how the doping suspension of Gabriel Santos mostly sunk what has been Brazil’s most successful international relay, the men’s 4×100 free. But some fast non-free swimming has the Brazilians looking like dark-horse medal threats in a very different relay: the men’s 4×100 medley.
Let’s look at the pieces so far:
Backstroke: 32-year-old Guilherme Guido set a new national and South American record in the 100 back, going 52.95.
Breaststroke: 33-year-old Joao Gomes Junior was 59.25 in heats, the fastest he’s been since 2017 Worlds (59.24). When he went that time in 2017, he split 58.80, third among all breaststrokers in the men’s medley relay final.
Butterfly: we haven’t seen much yet, with the individual 100 fly still to come. However, 22-year-old Vini Lanza was 51.6 at Brazil’s national championships, though he was four tenths off his lifetime-best in the 50 fly earlier this week.
Freestyle: after a lackluster 48.1 leadoff on the free relay Marcelo Chierighini came back to blast a 47.9 in heats, then a 47. in semifinals of the 100 free. He’s just a tenth off his lifetime-best, done back in April.
No one is saying Brazil is a medal favorite. The men’s medley field is pretty stacked, between the Americans, the British, the Russians and the Chinese, among others. But when you add up our (admittedly very optimistic) split projections, there’s a pathway for the Brazilian men to break 3:30 in this relay. In 2017, only three teams did so, and our projected ceiling time below would’ve earned bronze:
| Guilherme Guido | 52.95 |
(from 100 back heats)
|
| Joao Gomes Junior | 58.80 |
(from 2017 Worlds)
|
| Vini Lanza | 51.00 |
(0.4 faster than lifetime-best)
|
| Marcelo Chierighini | 46.85 |
(from 2017 Worlds)
|
| 3:29.60 |
SOUTH AMERICA MEDAL TABLE – DAY 4:
| COUNTRY | GOLD | SILVER | BRONZE | TOTAL |
| Brazil | 1 | 2 | 3 |
SOUTH AMERICAN National RECORDS BROKEN:
- Men’s 200 IM, Ecuadorian record: Tomas Peribonio, 2:00.07
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