RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, September 7. IN the same pool that hosted the World Youth Championships at the end of August, three South American records went down during the Brazil Long Course National Championships.
Thiago Pereira chopped nearly a second off his own South American standard in the 200-meter breaststroke with a 2:14.64 during finals of the event. That effort surpassed the 2:15.63 he posted on September 24, 2003 in Santos.
Artur Rocha then trimmed the 50-meter backstroke record with a 25.91 during prelims to eclipse the 26-flat recorded by Pablo Martin on July 24, 2001 in Fukuoka.
In the 100-meter butterfly, Gabriella Silva lowered her own standard under the 1:01 threshold with a 1:00.92 during preliminary action. Her previous South American best of 1:01.13 stood for a short time as she posted the time on May 25 of this year in Sao Paulo.
Jorge Aguado contributed to this report