Maria Lenk Trophy: Tales Cerdeira Swift in 200 Breast Prelims; Daniel Orzechowski Posts 50 Back World Leader

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, April 24. DANIEL Orzechowski highlighted the first day of competition at the Maria Lenk Trophy meet, held in long course format, with a world-leading time in the 50 backstroke.

The meet is serving as another qualifying meet for Brazil's Olympic team. Only one swimmer posted a time under the FINA A standard in today's competition.

Women's 200 freestyle
Lotte Friis of Denmark opened the meet with a winning time of 1:59.65 in the 200 free. Manuella Lyrio placed second with a 2:00.27, while France's Laure Manaudou took third in 2:00.43.

Men's 200 freestyle
Joao de Lucca, who recently helped the University of Louisville to a top-10 finish at the men's Division I NCAA championships, just missed the automatic Olympic qualifying time of 1:47.82 tonight with a winning time of 1:48.26. Nicolas Oliveira, who had just missed out on Olympic qualifying at the Brazil Open in December with a 1:48.06, posted a 1:48.79 in tonight's final for second. Charlie Houchin of the United States placed third with a 1:48.83, just off his season best of 1:48.50 from the Indianapolis Grand Prix.

Women's 50 backstroke
Fabolia Molina won a close race in the non-Olympic sprint backstroke with a 28.74. Manaudou pulled off an impressive double, earning the silver medal with a 28.81. Etiene de Medeiros was third with a 28.91.

Men's 50 backstroke
Daniel Orzechowski won the sprint backstroke title with a 24.44, putting him at the top of the world rankings and breaking Guilherme Guido's 2009 national record of 24.49. Bastiaan Lijesen previously held the top spot in the world with a 24.79. Guido moved to fourth in the world with his runner-up time of 24.82, and the USA's Eugene Godsoe placed third with a 25.01, good for sixth in the world.

Women's 200 breaststroke
Pamela Souza won the women's 200 breast title with a 2:31.66, while Julia Sebastien was second with a 2:32.81. Juliana Marin took third with a 2:34.87.

Men's 200 breaststroke
After posting a 2:11.86 in December, Tales Cerdeira won the final today in 2:12.40 after posting a 2:10.37 in prelims. The prelim time is under the A standard of 2:11.74, and makes him the second-fastest qualifier for Brazil, bumping Thiago Pereira, who swam a 2:10.79 in December, out of the event — provided Brazil allows swimmers to qualify for the Olympic team in prelims. Cerdeira's time also sits eighth in the world.

Henrique Barbosa still holds the country's top time with a 2:09.82 from December's Brazil Open. Felipe Lima placed second in tonight's race with a 2:12.62, while Barbosa earned third with a 2:13.52.

Women's 1500 freestyle
Friis bookended tonight's session with wins, taking the non-Olympic mile in 16:11.76. Not far behind the world champion was Cecilia Biagioli with a 16:13.84. Poliana Okimoto, already qualified for the 10K open water swim in London, placed third with a 16:47.37.

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