Arbidel Gonzalez Clocks 1:54.99 200 Fly, Crushes Spanish Record By Nearly 2 Seconds

2023 WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

• July 23 to 30, 2023
• Fukuoka, Japan
• Marine Messe Fukuoka
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• Entry Book
• Live Results (Omega)
• Day 3 Prelims Live Recap

There were only two swimmers under 1:55 seconds in the preliminary heats of the men’s 200 fly at the 2023 World Championships. One of them was top seed Tomoru Honda of Japan, which was not a surprise. However, the second man sub-1:55 was Spain’s 20-year-old Arbidel Gonzalez, who was seeded 21st prior to the start of the meet.

Gonzalez swam a time of 1:54.99, destroying Carlos Peralta‘s Spanish record time of 1:56.42 from 2016. He also crushed his own personal best time of 1:56.76 from the Barcelona Mare Nostrum stop in May 2023.

Over the last year, Gonzalez has dropped nearly three seconds in the 200 fly. He entered 2023 with a personal best of 1:57.75 and then proceeded to lower it twice in the last two months.

Gonzalez won his heats race because of his closing speed, passing swimmers like Ilya Kharun and Chen Juner on his last 50. Compared to his previous best time, he improved significantly on his first and third 50. Gonzalez was also considerably faster than Peralta’s old Spanish record largely due to his back half.

Splits Comparison:

If Gonzalez manages to medal in the 200 fly final, he will be the first Spanish male to land on a podium at a long course World Championships since Aschwin Wildeboer and Rafael Munoz did so in 2009.