Friday’s competition at the Argentina nationals, which is serving as the selection meet for this summer’s Pan American Games and world championships as well as next year’s Olympics, featured some dominant winning performances and a second national record by Andrea Berrino.
Berrino, who broke a national record in Thursday’s events with a 1:01.04 in the 100 backstroke, blasted a 2:13.91 in the 200 back to dip under her own record of 2:13.93 from last October’s South American championships. She was racing the clock from the start, as she won the race by 10 seconds.
Santiago Grassi nearly made it two national records on Friday with a 52.94 in the men’s 100 butterfly, but fell short of Jose Meolans’ national mark of 52.93. Grassi will have the opportunity to chase the record again in July against some of the best swimmers in North and South America at the Pan American Games. The swim puts him 19th in the world and the sixth-fastest among swimmers from the American continents.
One day breaking the national record in the 200 freestyle, Federico Grabich took the 50 freestyle in 22.82 as the only swimmer under 23 seconds in the heat. Aixa Triay won the women’s 50 free with a 26.31, beating the field by seven tenths of a second.
Equally dominant was Maria Diaz in the 100 butterfly. She won the event with a 1:02.06, three seconds ahead of the 1:05.43 by Manuela Morano, but shy of her national record of 1:01.00. Also winning convincingly was Ana Presumido in the women’s 200 breast with a 2:37.15, three seconds ahead of the 2:40.30 by Malena Coschiza.
Two men made a run at the four-minute barrier in the 400 freestyle, with Ivo Cassino taking the win in 4:00.04 and Martin Naidich making a late push to finish second with a 4:00.99. In the women’s 400 free, Malena Ferrari pulled away from Stephanie Romero Serwatka to win the women’s 400 free with a 4:35.82 to Serwatka’s 4:36.03.
Facundo Miguelena held off a late surge from Rodrigo Frutos in the final stretch of the men’s 200 breast, winning with a 2:17.89 to Frutos’ 2:18.23. Benjamin Hockin, the winner of Thursday’s 100 back, led the field through the first 100 meters of the 200 backstroke final but faded to fifth with a 2:08.81 at the finish. Agustin Hernandez took the win with a 2:04.25.
Time of 2:13.91 is no new Argentine record. Andrea Berrino holds it with a 2:13.39 which she run at the Argentina Open in December 2014.