Veracruz, Mexico, November 16, 2014 – The second night of finals at the 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games (CAC) in Veracruz did not disappoint, as meet records were set in five of the evening’s six events.
The women’s 200m freestyle, the only event whose meet record is still in tact, was won by last night’s 400m freestyle gold medalist, Andreina Pinto from Venezuela. The 23-year-old’s time of 2:00.42 came dangerously close to the 2:00.19 games record currently held by Claudia Poll of Costa Rica (2:00.19), which she set in 2006. Following Pinto tonight were Jessica Maria Camposano (Colombia) who earned silver in 2:00.68 and Elisbet Gamez (Cuban) in 2:02.08.
In the second final of the night, the men’s 100m breaststroke, 18-year-old Carlos Claverie (Venezuela) stepped up and threw down a big 1:01.76 to take down the games record of 1:02.07, previously held by Edgar Crespo of Panama from the 2010 edition of the games. Crespo slid into the bronze medal position in this year’s competition, clocking 1:02.45, while Colombia’s Jorge Mario Murillo earned the silver medal with his time of 1:01.90.
Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace ran away with the gold medal in the second women’s final of the night, the 50m butterfly. Her time of 26.46 not only beat the field by almost a full second, but was enough to smash the CAC Games record in this event, which she also held from 2010 (26.92). Carolina Colorado (Columbia) earned the silver medal in 27.40 and Jeserik Pinto (Venezuela) took home bronze in 27.54.
Continuing with the night’s record-breaking trend, 18-year-old Marcelo Acosta from El Salvador raced to gold in the men’s 1500m freestyle with his time of 15:22.43, a time which smashed the previous mark held by Alejandro Gomez (15:37.59) from the 2010 games. Mateo De Angula from Colombia earned the silver in 15:26.71, while Gomez settled for bronze with 15:37.85.
Last night’s women’s 50m backstroke winner was at it again tonight, as Maria Fernanda Gonzalez crushed the CAC Games record on her way to winning gold in tonight’s final. Gonzalez’s time of 1:01.57 simply shattered the previous games record of 1:02.26 set in 2010 by Rita Medrano of Mexico. Carolina Colorado of Colombia earned her second silver of the night, clocking a 1:03.00, while Guatemalan Gisela Maria Morales grabbed the bronze in her time of 1:03.81.
In the final race of the evening, the men’s 200m individual medley, yet another gold medal was earned in CAC Games record-breaking fashion. Omar Pinzon of Colombia hammered the field with his winning time of 2:02.07, well above the reigning games record of 2:02.32 set in 2010 by Bradley Ally of Barbados. Rafael Alfaro (El Salvador) earned the silver in 2:03.99, while Ezequiel Trujillo (Mexico) snagged the bronze in 2:04.20.
On the schedule for competition tomorrow is the women’s 200m butterfly, 100m freestyle, and 50m breaststroke. The men tackle the 100m backstroke, 400m IM, and 50m butterfly events.
Shockingly disgraceful attendance. Hardly surprising however given the organizers inability to consider constructive suggestions with regard to the format, etc.