Spain qualifies 14 swimmers for World Championships at Spanish Nationals

Fourteen Spanish swimmers qualified for the upcoming World Championships at the Spanish Nationals which ran from March 21st-24th in Pontevedra.

The 10 females who made the team included Mireia Belmonte, Melanie Costa, Marina Garcia, Duane Da Rocha, Beatriz Gomez, Judit Ignacio, Patricia Castro, Mercedes Peris, Erika Villaecija and Jessica Vall.

The four males who qualified were Rafael Munoz, Marc Sanchez, Aschwin Wildeboer and Miguel Rando.

Olympic silver Mireia Belmonte stole the show by qualifying in six events and posting three world bests over the four day meet. Belmonte won the 200 butterfly (2:06.70), 400 IM (4:35.27) and 400 freestyle (4:05.63) in times that rank number one in the world so far this season. She also won the 800 freestyle (8:24.89) and the 1500 freestyle (16:11.11) in times which are under the Fina A standard.

Hungarian Zsuzsanns Jakabos stopped Belmonte’s winning streak in her final event, the 200 IM. Jakabos won the event in a time of 2:10.35 with Belmonte finishing second in a time of 2:10.67.

Jakabos was also impressive in 200 butterfly where she finished second in a time of 2:07.38, the second fastest time in the world and the 200 freestyle where she shared the victory with Melanie Costa, with both swimmers finishing in a time of 1:58.15.

Costa’s time in the 200 freestyle earned her a spot on the Spanish World Championship team while Patricia Castro also gain a berth on the team in the same event finishing third in a time of 1:58.45.

Costa later added the 400 freestyle to her event schedule in Barcelona by finishing second in a time of 4:06.02.

Beatriz Gomez and Marina Garcia also qualified for multiple events. Gomez qualified in the 800 freestyle (8:26.54), 200 IM (2:12.09) and the 400 IM (4:39.86) while Garcia qualified in the 50 breaststroke (31.68) and the 200 breaststroke (2:25.77).

Duane Da Rocha, Mercedes Peris, Erika Villaecijia and Jessica Vall all posted times that were good enough to make the team in one individual event. Da Rocha in the 100 backstroke (1:01.31), Peris in the 50 backstroke (28.08), Villaecija in the 1500 freestyle (16:21.17) and Vall in the 50 breaststroke (31.80).

On the men’s side Aschwin Wildeboer qualified for the team by setting a new championship record in the 50 backstroke swimming a time of 24.76. Miguel Rando came second to Wildeboer in a time of 25.19 which also earned him a berth onto the World Championships team.

Marc Sanchez earned his ticket to Barcelona in the 1500 freestyle swimming a time of 15:12.53 while Rafael Munoz made it onto the team in the 50 butterfly winning the event in a time of 23.27.