On Monday evening at the 2013 Olimpiada Nacional, the Mexican National Championship meet and a World Championship qualifying event, two men went under the Mexican National Record and World Championship Qualifying standard in the 400 free.
The winner, though, will be the likely recipient of the bid for Barcelona, as 21-year old Artur0 Perez Vertti won in 3:54.04. That broke his own record of 3:55.25.
The Mexican middle distance group on the men’s side is growing strong; 17-year old Julio Olvera Alejos was 2nd in 3:54.66, which is also under the old record, and a third swimmer Ramiro Ramirez cleared the FINA B standard in 3:57.15.
Because nobody was better than the A standard, the Mexicans will have to choose one of those three to send, though Alejos will likely earn a bid to at least Junior Worlds to gain some experience.
The women’s race was won by Charetzeni Torres in 4:15.39, which is yet another B qualifying standard.
Maria Fernanda Gonzalez, the star of the Mexican squad, won the 200 backstroke in 2:14.49, which is a far cry from her own National Record, but should be enough to convince the Mexican federation of her worthiness for a second swim at the World Championships (she was prequalified in the 100, which comes later in the meet.)
Ezequiel Trujillo, who is specifically an IM specialist, took a big win in the 200 back with a 2:02.48. That’s a much better swim than he had in the 200 IM final, though it’s still a ways from his personal best in the event.
And finally, another Texas A&M Aggie (they’ve dominated the women’s side of this meet) won the 100 fly, when Rita Medrano won the 100 fly in 1:01.40, beating a 1:02.43 from Gonzalez. Medrano will likely have to swim much better in the 200 fly on Wednesday to qualify for Barcelona.
The men’s 100 fly final was exciting, with Ramiro Ramirez (54.76) having only .02 seconds for margin ahead of Alejandro Escudero (54.78) and another hundredth to Daniel Zabdiel (54.79). As exciting as the touch was, nobody was under either FINA World Championship qualifying standard.
