Gabe Castano Ties FINA A Cut in 50 Free in Time Trial at Mission Viejo Swim Meet of Champions

Photo Courtesy: NCAA Media

Penn State’s Gabe Castano tied the FINA A cut in the 50 free in a time trial on Sunday in Mission Viejo as his 22.01 qualified him for the Olympic Games for Mexico.

Castano had started the weekend going 22.18 off the front of the 100 free, which stood as a Meixcan record. He lowered his time to 22.12 in the semifinal of the 50 and 22.06 in the final Saturday, before dropping a 22.01 to tie the FINA A standard in a time trial on Sunday. The time is also a Mexican national record for the Penn State senior, who was 26th at NCAAs earlier this season in the 50 freestyle.

Two other Mexican national records fell in Mission Viejo as Texas A&M’s Hector Ruvalcaba Cruz won the 200 butterfly at 1:56.89, just missing the FINA A standard of 1:56.48. Cal’s Andy Song tied the national record in the 50 back at 25.85. Song also took a win in the 200 backstroke with a 2:00.78, just off his own national record of 1:59.89 from earlier this year.

Cal’s Zheng Quah finished runner-up to Ruvalcaba Cruz in the 200 fly at 1:57.53.

Kasia Wasick, who is already headed to Tokyo for Poland but trains in California, won the 50 free final with a 24.68, while Linnea Mack was second at 24.94. Wasick has already been a 24.17 earlier this year as she is fifth in the world among the Tokyo qualifiers this year. Mack just missed the U.S. team last week in Omaha when she placed eighth in the 100 free final, and she followed that up this week with a 53.85 in the prelims of the 100 free and a 53.91 in the finals. Had she swum that time in Omaha, she would have been sixth in the final.

Russia’s Vladimir Morozov, who also trains in southern California, won the men’s 100 free at 49.22 ahead of fellow USC grad Dylan Carter (49.54) of Trinidad & Tobago. Morozov will represent Russia in Tokyo in the 50 free and 4×100 free relay at his third Olympics.

Texas A&M’s Jing Quah, who represents Singapore internationally, won the 200 fly on Friday night of the Swim Meet of Champions at 2:10.01 ahead of Texas’ Remedy Rule (2:10.90), who also represents the Philippines internationally. Rule also won the 200 freestyle on Saturday with a 2:00.78 over Ella Ristic of Irvine Nova (2:01.04), who also won the 400 free at 4:18.08.

Arizona’s Jorge Iga, who also swims for Mexico internationally, won the men’s 200 free at 1:48.21 ahead of Zheng (1:48.71), while India’s Kushagra Rawat won the men’s 400 free at 3:54.22. The 1,500 free went to India’s Advait Page, who set a national record of 15:23.66 and is a new Olympic B cut.

In the women’s 400 IM, 14-year-old Teegan O’Dell swam a 4:51.46 to move up to 48th all-time in the 13-14 age group, while 25-year-old Tom Peribonio of Ecuador and the Gator Swim Club pro group won the men’s 400 IM at 4:21.64. The FINA A cut is a 4:15.84. Peribonio also lowered his national record in the 50 back to 26.53.

Peru’s McKenna DeBever won the 200 back for Tennessee Aquatics at 2:16.53 ahead of 16-year-old Maggie McGuire (2:16.96), while Miguel Chavez (2:13.51) and Isabelle Odgers (2:30.06) won the 200 breaststroke finals.

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