2019 Peru National Selection Meet
- April 25th-28th, 2019
- Lima, Peru
- Long Course (50m), Prelims-Finals
- Full Results
The 18th Peru National Selection Meet was held at Campo de Marte in the capital city of Lima. This meet serves as the qualifying meet for the 2019 FINA World and Junior World Championships, the 2019 Pan-American Games, which will be hosted in Lima, as well as the 39th Pacific Swimming Cup.
Whereas the majority of the athletes in attendance were Peruvian, swimmers from other countries – including Chile, Cuba, Colombia, among others – also competed in the meet.
A strong cohort of age group studs picked up event wins across a wide range of disciplines. On night one, 16-year-old Natalia Figueroa claimed the 50 breast by almost a full second, dropping a 35.47 for the title. In the next event, Daniel Vargas had a dominant showing in the 800 free, winning by over 13 seconds in 8:23.91 at just 16 years of age.
Johan Rene Cue, an 18-year-old from Cuba, was the only competitor to crack 30 seconds in the men’s 50 breaststroke, stopping the clock at 29.46 to win the event by a full second.
The women’s 200 back was won by Andrea Becall, who is only 14, as she beat out the rest of the field by over nine seconds with her winning time of 2:19.82. The Cuban native would go on to sweep all three backstroke events, winning the 50 in 30.70 and the 100 in 1:04.77.
The men’s 200 fly was also won in commanding fashion by an age grouper – 18-year-old Luis Vilchez was the only swimmer in the field to break 2:10, claiming the top spot with his 2:03.14.
Rafael Fernandini topped the podium in both of the women’s sprint freestyle events. She registered a 27.00 for the crown in the splash and dash, and won the 100 free with a 58.82 to narrowly out-touch Chile’s Martin Ines’s 58.95 for the runner-up spot.
16-year-old Samantha Bello had a phenomenal meet. She broke Peruvian junior national records in the 400 free, clocking a 4:19.96; as well as the 800 free, in which she recorded a time of 8:51.80.
Siulei Miyake also broke a Peruvian national age group record in the 50 fly. The 14-year-old swam a time of 28.83 in the preliminaries to set the record, and would go on to place third in finals. Miyake also owns the national age group record in the 100 fly.
Absent from this meet was one of Peru’s most successful swimmers Mauricio Fiol, as he is currently serving a four year suspension from WADA. Fiol tested positive for the banned substance Stanozolol at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, Canada. However, as we previously reported, he has received a waiver to compete in the 2019 Pan American Games on his home turf.