Bruno Fratus had to do a week of waiting to see if his 50 free in Mission Viejo was good enough to make Brazil’s Olympic team. And on Saturday night in Rio, Fratus, who was back at his home in south Florida, had his time hold up for Olympic qualification as Pedro Spajari’s winning time of 22.04 was not quicker than Fratus’ 21.80.
Fratus is officially off to his third Olympics at age 31.
“It is much more difficult to see from a distance than to be in the pool, where you can control things. Since I did my tryouts in California, I was confident, but I was not comfortable. It was two weeks controlling anxiety, but it worked. I’m back to training and now I’m focusing on Japan,” explained Bruno Fratus.
Spajari was not under the 22.01 FINA A standard while Victor Alcara was second (22.07) and Nicholas Santos (22.21) was third. Spajari was under the 100 free A standard earlier in the meet so he is already on the plane to Tokyo.
Matheus Gonche won the 100 butterfly with a FINA A standard at 51.94, just under the 51.96 standard. This will be Gonche’s first Olympic Games as he finished ahead of Tennessee swimmer Kayky Mota (52.11) and Indiana’s Vini Lanza (52.36), who is on the team for the 200 IM.
“I was out of contact with the pool for five months last year. Then, we managed to get back and the work fit very well. During the week, I was feeling that I was fine and I knew that if my ticket was good, the return would give the index. I am very happy and I want to thank everyone who participated in this achievement,” said Matheus Gonche.
Gabriel Santos also time trialed a 100 freestyle to try and get the second spot after the disqualification of Thursday’s winner Andre Souza. Santos swam a 48.49 and guaranteed an individual spot.
“I like pressure. I can not deny. I did a bad test on Thursday and ended up not qualifying. Everything that happened happened and I had that opportunity. It was supposed to happen and I’m qualified for the Olympic Games,” said Gabriel Santos.
Two time trials will be held this Sunday. The first will be the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay and then the mixed 4x100m medley relay. The two seek vacancies in Tokyo via FINA recap.
Lorrane Ferreira won the women’s 50 free at 24.84, just ahead of Etiene Medeiros (24.90), who made the final in Rio in this event. Neither swimmer made the FINA A standard that was a 24.77 although a 4×100 free relay could be in the cards for the Brazilian women tomorrow.
Fernanda Goeij also won the 200 back at 2:13.13 as the A standard was a 2:10.39, while Gabrielle Goncalves won the 800 free at 8:39.49, off the A standard of 8:33.36. She was ahead of open water world champ Ana Marcela Cunha (8:41.64).
Men’s Qualifiers:
- Luiz Altamir – 4x200m freestyle relay
- Guilherme Basseto – 100m backstroke and 4x100m medley relay
- Marcelo Chierighini – 4x100m freestyle relay
- Breno Correia – 200m freestyle and 4x100m and 4x200m freestyle relays
- Guilherme Costa – 400m, 800m freestyle and 1500m freestyle
- Leonardo de Deus – 200m butterfly
- Bruno Fratus – 50m freestyle
- Matheus Gonche – 100m butterfly
- Guilherme Guido – 100m backstroke
- Vinicius Lanza – 200m medley
- Felipe Lima – 100m breaststroke and 4x100m medley relay
- Caio Pumputis – 200m medley
- Gabriel Santos – 100m freestyle
- Murilo Sartori – 4x200m freestyle relay
- Fernando Scheffer – 200m freestyle and 4x200m freestyle relay
- Pedro Spajari – 100m freestyle and 4x100m freestyle relay
Women’s Qualifiers:
- Beatriz Dizotti – 1500m freestyle
- Betina Lorscheitter – 1500m freestyle