2021 Brazil Olympic Trials – Day 4 Live Recap

2021 BRAZILIAN OLYMPIC TRIALS

• Monday, April 19th – Saturday, April 24th
• Prelims at 9:30 am local; Finals at 6:30 pm local
• Long Course Meters (50 meters), prelims/finals
• Brazilian Olympic Selection Policy
• Meet Site
• Heat Sheets
• Prelims Schedule
• Finals Schedule
• Live Results
• Day 1 Recap
• Day 2 Recap
• Day 3 Recap

So far, seven Brazilian swimmers have punched their tickets to the Olympic Games by swimming under FINA “A” Standards at this week’s Brazilian Olympic Trials in Rio.

Poor weather conditions that swimmers have expressed concerns over throughout the week persisted on Thursday morning, though conditions seem to have improved, at least in terms of wind and rain, for the finals session – though at 70 degrees as of start of finals, it’s still cold for an outdoor meet.

Friday’s meet will see the women’s 1500 free final, men’s 100 free final, women’s 200 free final, and a women’s 800 free relay time trial as the country hopes to move up in the Olympic rankings.

Women’s 1500 Free

• Olympic Qualifying Standard – 16:32.04
• Brazilian National Record – Viviane Jungblut 16:22.48 (2017) Beatriz Pimentel Dizotti, 16:22.07 **New Record**

No swimmers entered the women’s 1500 free timed final seeded better than the Olympic qualifying standard in the event, but the top three finishers all swam well under the mark in the event.

That includes the winner Beatriz Pimentel Dizotti, who swam 16:22.07 to dip four-tenths of a second under the old Brazilian Record. Delfina Pignatiello of Argnentina still holds the South American Record in 15:51.68.

The woman who held that Brazilian Record previously, Viviane Jungblut, isn’t in attendance at the meet this week after she tested positive for coronavirus. She’ll be one of 5 swimmers who will race at a Time Trial on June 12 to attempt a last-minute Olympic qualification.

The 2nd-place finisher was Ana Marcela Cunha, who was 16:25.76 on Thursday evening. Cunha is already qualified to race the open water 10km race at the Tokyo Olympic Games, and said in her post-race interview that she would not swim this event in Tokyo.

The means Jungblut’s target in June is the 3rd-place finisher Betina Lorscheitter who finished in 16:27.73, which was also well under the Olympic qualifying standard – more than 4 seconds. She raced in 2nd place for about the first 975 meters of this race, but Cunha’s endurance (she’s the defending World Champion in the 5km and 25km open water races) kicked in late as she pulled away for 2nd.

Men’s 100 Free – Final

• Olympic Qualifying Standard – 48.57
• Brazilian National Record – Cesar Cielo, 46.91 (2009)

The torch has been handed over in the men’s 100 meter freestyle in Brazil, as two new faces will handle the individual duties in Tokyo.

20-year old Andre Luiz Souza won the race in 48.15 and 23-year old Pedro Spajari, holder of one of the fastest 400 free relay splits ever, made an individual breakthrough to touch 2nd in 48.31. That puts both swimmers under the Olympic qualifying standard, though both will need further improvements to contend for a medal.

Breno Correia took 3rd in 48.74 and Marcelo Chierighini took 4th in 48.83. Those two will likely be granted relay spots, but that’s short of the individual swims at the 2019 World Championships that both had in this race. There, Chierighini placed 5th and Correia placed 8th in the final.

Felipe Ribeiro Souza placed 5th in 48.87. According to Brazil’s selection policies, he would have had to be under the Olympic Selection Standard to be under consideration for a relay-alternate slot, but he was not.

Chierighini was out in 23.22, behind Souza’s opening split of 22.94 and Spajari’s opening split of 22.45. By Chierighini’s standards, that is a slow opening leg. For example, at the 2019 World Championships, when he swam 47.76 in the semi-finals to qualify 3rd into the final, he opened in 22.57, which was the fastest opening split of the field. Unaccustomed to swimming from behind, on Thursday Chierighini was unable to close the gap, and fell from 3rd at the turn to 4th at the final touch.

Chierighini is the only member of the Rio Olympic relay that placed 5th who will return on this relay for Tokyo.

Lucas Peixoto, who won the South American title in this event in March in a 49-low and who was a 48.8 in prelims swam to just an 8th-place finish in finals in 49.74.

Women’s 200 Fly – Final

• Olympic Qualifying Standard – 2:08.43
• Brazilian National Record – Joanna Maranhao, 2:09.22 (2017)

With the Olympic standard almost a second faster than the Brazilian Record, and with Joanna Maranhao retiring in 2018, this women’s 200 fly was one of the least-likely events to mount a qualifying charge this week.

Ultimately, the field fell short, with Giovanna Diamante winning in 2:15.93. That’s about four seconds slower than her lifetime best of 2:11.82 done in November 2019

Men’s 200 Breast – Final

• Olympic Qualifying Standard – 2:10.35
• Brazilian National Record – Henrique Barbosa, 2:08.44 (2009)

Paced over the first 100 meters by his sprint-focused Pinheiros teammate Felipe Lima, Caio Pumputis swam to a 2:11.81 in the men’s 200 breaststroke final. That was good enough for a win by more than a second, but it was well shy of both his best time (2:09.93) and the Olympic Selection Standard (2:10.35).

Pumputis, who trains in the United States at Georgia Tech, opened in 1:00.99, with Lima side-by-side in 1:01.47. And while Lima faded to 8th in 2:24.89, Pumputis likewise struggled on the back-half of the race, though he was able to hold on for the win.

Pumputis Splits Comparison:

• 2019 personal best: 28.64/32.39/33.61/35.29 = 2:09.93
• Thursday finals time: 28.98/32.01/33.78/37.04 = 2:11.81

The first 100 split was overall very similar to when he swam his 2:09, but the race fell apart on Thursday in the closing 50.

Andreas Mickosz finished 2nd in 2:13.03, which is about a second-and-a-half short of his best time as well.

Women’s 800 Free Relay Time Trial

The Brazilian women sent only two swimmers, and raced no relays, at the 2019 World Championships, which means they would need to swim a top 4 time during the qualifying period (excluding the top 12 finishers at Worlds who are already qualified) to earn a spot in this 800 free relay at the Olympic Games.

They entered the meet ranked 8th in that battle, and jumped all the way to 2nd with an 8:00.92 in a time trial swim.

Splits:

• Larissa Oliveira – 1:59.21
• Nathalia Almeida – 2:00.23
• Gabrielle Roncatto – 2:01.97
• Aline Rodrigues – 1:59.51

While that time won’t likely final, it does give them a chance to qualify. The biggest threat to that status right now are the upcoming European Championships in May, where Great Britain, Belgium, Israel, and Spain could all pass them. Great Britain can definitely put together a sub-8 minute relay, while Israel, if they can get Andi Murez and Anastasia Gorbenko firing together, looks capable of 7:56-or-better. Spain has shown lackluster results in the 200 free in recent years, and Belgium would need a special leg from Valeria Dumont to get there, so Brazil is in a good position, though not totally safe, at the moment.

Updated women’s 800 free relay Rankings:

The Brazilian women’s 800 free relay finished 11th at the 2016 Olympics in a South American Record time of 7:55.68.