With astonishing determination, Carmen Weiler (2004) achieved a triple stroke success in the 100 backstroke. First, her 1:00.07 pulverized the previous Spanish record held by Nina Zhivanevskaya, obtained just before the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008 (1:00.29). It was the oldest record in the women’s category and for years it had resisted great swimmers such as África Zamorano or Duane da Rocha. Now Weiler busts it in a race in which he swam at a high pace from the first 50 and maintained speed into the final stretch. They were the qualifiers, so he could still lose one minute in this Spring Open that started this Wednesday in Son Hugo (Mallorca), and he did it with an international category mark (59.76).
Weiler’s brand had more ambitious consequences. Her brand gives her the ticket for the Fukuoka World Cup in July, so the young swimmer who lived and studied in Singapore and now does so at Virgina Tech University (United States) will debut in this competition. The one who was junior European champion also gets the Olympic minimum that will be valid if she is able to get into the final of the next World Cup. Although she does not succeed, Weiler presents her candidacy to attend Paris 2024 and to be one of the swimmers with the most potential on the international scene.
The swimmer with a German father and a Valencian mother has a tough list of tests ahead of her in this Spanish Championship in Mallorca. Apart from continuing the rounds in the 100 backstroke, he will swim the 50 and 200 of the same modality apart from the 50 and 100 free. A sprinter who will challenge all records considering her great form, although the back is really her specialty.
Garach and Martínez, two other youngsters to the World Cup
The afternoon was memorable in Mallorca, as Spanish swimming hadn’t achieved two Spanish records in one attack for a long time, also so emblematic. Carlos Garach, who had already been in the last World Cup in Budapest, had been a finalist in the European Championship in Rome and double junior world champion, won the ticket for the World Cup and a non-definitive Olympic mark in the 1,500 freestyle with a time of 14: 57.23. A mark that breaks another historical barrier, that of Marco Rivera obtained in the 2009 World Cup in Rome, which was at 14:57.47.
The swimmer, who last year was only three seconds behind the record, commented on Teledeporte that “I am very moved by the support that my family and friends have given me, and also by what we have fought for. I had the idea of lowering my brand, it’s something you think about, that comes out, and I’m very happy to have achieved it”. he also got the minimum Ángela Martínez in the women’s 800 with a time of 8:29.08.