RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, May 9. TWO more South American breaststroke long course meter records took a dive at the Maria Lenk Trophy prelims held this evening in Rio de Janeiro.
Tatiane Sakemi claimed the South American record in the women's 100 breast with a time of 1:07.67. The readout crushed the 1:10.38 set by Liliana Guiscardo in May 2008 as well as smashed Sakemi's Brazilian record of 1:10.44 from November 2008. Carolina Mussi joined her under the old continental mark with a second-seeded 1:08.41, while Ana Carla Carvalho qualified third in 1:09.61.
Henrique Barbosa continued the assault on the South American breaststroke records this week with a swift 59.12 in the men's 100 breast. Barbosa completely shredded his South American record of 1:00.79 set last year at this meet as he shattered the 1:00 barrier. His effort is not far off Kosuke Kitajima's world record of 58.91 set at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and is the second best ever. Joao Luiz Junior took second in 1:00.40 with Eduardo Fischer finishing third in 1:00.52.
Tatiana Lemos led the way in the 100 free preliminary heats. She clocked a 55.38 for the top seed, while Michelle Lenhardt finished second in 55.80. Monique Ferreira placed third in 56.01.
South American record holder Cesar Cielo, who owns the record with a 47.67, knew it wouldn't take his best effort to get into finals, so he kept some in the tank heading into the finale with a fourth-seeded 49.10. Nicolas Oliveira (48.69) and Fernando Silva (48.83) went 1-2 with Guilherme Roth placing third in 48.85.
Fabiola Molina paced the women's 100 back with a meet-record effort of 1:01.25. Fernanda Alvarenga touched just behind with a second-place 1:01.39, while Lorena Rezende placed third in 1:03.04.
Leonardo Guedes earned the top seed in the men's 100 back with a 55.05, while Guilherme Guido cruised to a second-seeded 55.38. Henrique Martins wound up third in 55.39.
Julia Volkmann touched out Joanna Maranhao, 2:19.61 to 2:19.83, for the top seed in the women's 200 IM. Natalia Favoreto qualified third in 2:20.48.
In the men's 200 IM, Diogo Yabe beat the field with a 2:00.86, while Henrique Rodrigues touched second in 2:03.21. Andrew Schultz completed the top three in 2:03.24.