MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina, December 8. DURING the second day of swimming at the Argentina Long Course Championships, several standards of varying degrees took a fall.
First, Kristel Kobrich of Chile cut nearly a second off her South American record in the 800 free with a time of 8:39.88. She had held the previous record with an 8:40.41 set in 2004. Kobrich currently trains with Daniel Garimaldi, who has coached Jose Meolans and Georgina Bardach.
Additionally, Manuela Morano and Andres Gonzales set national records at the event. Morano nipped her own national standard of 28.77 in the 50 fly set in 2004 when she hit the wall in 28.44 to win the event.
Meanwhile, Gonzales, a FINA World Youth Championships finalist, demolished the national record in the 200 fly with a time of 2:00.84. Gaston Rodriguez had previously held the record with a 2:02.26 set in 2005.
In other action, Eliana Cassini and Freddy Szchach set national age group standard. Cassini went 2:21.59 in the women's 200 back proving she is on the mend after suffering with shoulder problems the past year. Szchach clocked a 3:59.92 to set his own age group record in the 400 free.
Special thanks to Jorge Aquado for contributing to this report.