2019 Brazil Trophy: Fernando Scheffer Leads Deep Field In 200 Free On Night One

Jul 17, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Fans of Brazil cheer during the medal ceremony for the 100m breaststroke final the 2015 Pan Am Games at Pan Am Aquatics UTS Centre and Field House. Mandatory Credit: Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports

Photo Courtesy: Erich Schlegel/USA Today Sports Images

The first night of the 2019 Brazil Trophy kicked off in Rio de Janeiro tonight, with championship finals of the men’s and women’s 200 free, 100 back, and the women’s 800 free to determine Brazil’s qualifiers for the 2019 World Championships this summer.

2019 BRAZIL TROPHY – LIVE RESULTS

The action kicked off with the women’s 200 free, which featured a win from American Mallory Comerford. Comerford was trailing Manuella Lyrio heading into the final 50, but turned it on with a 29.86 final split to rocket past Lyrio and grab the win in 1:58.02. Lyrio was the top Brazilian finisher, ending up second in 1:58.83. Larissa Oliviera rounded out the podium with a third place finish in 1:59.31.

Brazilian record holder Fernando Scheffer was victorious in the men’s 200 free, taking the event in 1:46.27 to move up to #6 in the world rankings, tied with Ji Xinjie of China. That was less than a second off of his Brazilian record from December of 2018 and good to earn him a spot to South Korea on the Worlds roster.

This event was very deep for the Brazilians, with the top 2 finishing under 1:47 and the top 5 finishing under 1:48. Second place went to Breno Correira in 1:46.65, good for the 11th fastest time in the world and also under the FINA A cut to qualify for World. He was followed by Luiz Altamir Melo (1:47.23) in third, Joao de Lucca (1:47.46) in fourth, and Murilo Sartori (1:47.75) in fifth. Altamir Melo and de Lucca will also be joining the Worlds roster as part of the 800 free relay.

Notably, that puts Scheffer and Correira as the top swimmers from the America’s in the world rankings. Closest to them is Caeleb Dressel with a 1:47.31 from the 2019 TYR Pro Swim Series in Richmond.

Etiene Medeiros had a strong swim to win the women’s 100 back (1:00.13), just about half a second off of her own national record. Guilherme Guido topped a tight men’s 100 back field, touching first in 53.83. He was the only swimmer under 54 seconds, but was followed closely by Gabriel Fantoni (54.13) and Guilherme Basseto (54.22).

Delfina Pignatiello closed the session with a win in the women’s 800 free. Pignatiello touched in 8:31.07, just outside the top 10 in the world rankings but good enough to punch her ticket to World Championships this summer.

The 2019 Brazil Trophy will continue in Rio through this Saturday.

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