2021 SPANISH LONG COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Wednesday, March 24, 2021 – Sunday, March 28, 2021
- Sabadell, Spain
- Olympic Qualification Event
- LCM (50M)
- Results Page
On the third day of finals at the Spanish Spring Championships, the distance events kicked off the night with two women going under the FINA ‘A’ cut in the 1500 free.
Maria De Valdes clocked a 16:18.37 for the win, beating Jimena Perez by five seconds (16:23.50). De Valdes torched her old best by ten seconds here, while Perez was over 15 seconds off of hers. Perez’s best from December of 16:08.70 was still almost ten seconds away for De Valdes, though, so she won’t get to swim it in Rio.
Taking third in a new junior meet record was 2004-born Angela Martinez, going 16:28.25 to take over 20 seconds off of her old best. Martinez is a young distance talent to watch; she went a few seconds under the ‘A’ cut, but since she finished third here (and Belmonte was already qualified) she won’t get to join the team in Tokyo.
Jessica Vall was painfully close to securing the FINA ‘A’ cut in the 100 breast, just missing it with a 1:07.22 tonight. Vall needed a 1:07.07 to add the 100 breast to her lineup for Tokyo, where she’s already qualified in the 200.
Africa Zamorano swam to another win tonight, adding to her 200 free and 100 back victories with a 2:09.98 in the 200 back. Zamorano is already qualified in the 200 back for Tokyo, and she was only about six-tenths off of her best from December.
OTHER WINNERS
- Miguel Duran posted an 8:01.95 to take the men’s 800 free.
- Nicolas Garcia won the 200 back title in 1:57.34, just off of a best. Manu Bacarizo went 1:58.05 in prelims before swimming to second in 1:58.52 tonight, but he was just off of the 1:57.50 needed to make the team.
- The men’s 100 breast went to Gonzalo Carazo at 1:01.75, just ahead of Joan Ballester (1:01.94).
SPANISH OLYMPIC TEAM
- Mireia Belmonte – 800m/1500m free
- Hugo Gonzalez – 100m back, 200m IM
- Jessica Vall – 200m breast
- Africa Zamorano – 200m back
- Nicolas Garcia – 200m back
- Jimena Perez – 800m free *NEW*
- Joan Pons – 400m IM *NEW*
- Maria De Valdes – 1500m free *NEW*
Perhaps I missed the information but where is Mireia Belmonte? Why we didn’t see her at this championships?
Hi Karl, Maria de Valdés will not go to the Olympics. Jimena Pérez will swim the 1500 free in Tokio together with Belmonte, because she swam the event in December in 16:08. De Valdés will only swim the 1500 at the European Championships.
Got it, we didn’t have her 16:08 on our radar — thanks!
The team now has three women listed for the 1500. That cant be.