World Champion Diogo Ribeiro Clocks 23.05 50 Fly At Portugal Open

2026 PORTUGAL OPEN

• March 28th – March 31st
• Coimbra, Portugal
• LCM (50m)
• Results

The 2026 Portugal Open wrapped up in Coimbra last week, with multiple national record holders diving in for European Championships and European Junior Championships qualification.

The four-day affair saw 21-year-old world champion Diogo Ribeiro capture an impressive four individual titles, spanning the 50m free, 100m free, 50m fly and 100m fly.

In the splash n’ dash, the speedster put up a mark of 21.96 to claim the sole outing of the field under the 22-second barrier.

Behind him was Miguel Nascimento who clocked 22.79 while Joao Padrela rounded out the podium in 22.84.

As for Ribeiro, his performance represented the 5th-fastest time of his young career, one which boasts a personal best of 21.67 from when he earned gold at last year’s U23 Championships. He now ranks just inside the list of top 25 performers in the world this season.

In the 100m free, Ribeiro got to the wall in a mark of 48.38, crushing the field by well over a second.

Opening in 22.85 and closing in 25.53, Ribeiro beat Gustavo Ribeiro who settled for silver in 49.95 followed by Goncalo Azevedo who bagged the bronze in 50.28.

Winner Ribeiro’s outing represents the 6th-best time of his young career, with his PB remaining at the 47.98 notched three years ago. He’s now the 21st-best performer worldwide this season.

Finally, Ribeiro got it done for gold in a time of 23.05 in the 50m fly and 51.81 in the 100m fly.

The former wasn’t terribly off his PB of 22.77 put up for 4th place at last year’s World Championships. That was after he nabbed gold in the event at the previous edition in Doha where he turned a time of 22.97.

Ribeiro now ranks 8th in the world, tying newly minted 50m free World Record holder Cameron McEvoy of Australia.

Assessing his racing at this Portugal Open, Ribeiro told the Portuguese Swimming Federation, “These championships are going well, it’s what we worked for.

“I’m not yet at 100 percent, but I have a competition in two weeks in Sweden, where I will swim with the best sharks in the world.

“I think the times I achieved are good indicators, like today’s 50 butterfly with 23.05 seconds. When you can get below 23 seconds, you can already win a medal at a European or World Championship. So, I’m very happy with today’s time, unlike the first two days.

“The important thing is to keep my head in the right place.

“The goal is to continue training and be present in competitions with the world’s biggest stars, instead of only competing in European, World and Olympic championships. It will help me understand my opponents, how to react and counter-attack. The truth is that there is little time left until the European Championships in Paris, so it’s time to fine-tune the last details and continue to work well.”

Additional Noters

• The men’s 1500m free saw Rodrigo Borges clock a winning result of 15:20.57, a monster new personal best. Entering this competition, Borges’ career-quickest checked in at the 15:44.62 put up just under a year ago, so he hacked off about 24 seconds en route to the victory here.
• Gabriel Lopes logged a time of 2:00.98 to take the men’s 200m IM while Vasco Morgado nabbed 200m fly gold in 1:57.18.
• The women’s 50m breast saw Ana Rodrigues post a time of 31.02 to dominate her competitors by nearly a second.
• Francisca Martins got the job done in the 400m free, establishing a mark of 4:11.26 to get to the wall over seven seconds ahead of the field.