Havana, April 7 (RHC) – Cuban Andrea Becali set a national record today in the 50-meter freestyle, stopping the clocks at 25.87 seconds at the 2026 Swimming Open taking place in Australia.
Becali, 21, twice lowered her own personal best on the day: she clocked 26.28 seconds in the preliminaries and then surpassed that mark in Final B, becoming the first Cuban swimmer to break the 26-second barrier.
Her performance not only dethroned Elisbet Gámez’s time (26.00s), which had stood since 2023, but also put Cuban women’s sprinting on the global map.
The Havana native, who also specializes in freestyle and backstroke, has represented the country in junior and senior world championships, and her steady progress positions her as a key figure for the Santo Domingo 2026 Central American and Caribbean Games and the Olympic cycle leading to Los Angeles 2028.
Her time in Gold Coast is not only a national record, but also a motivational milestone for Cuban swimming, which celebrates this glimmer of speed and international recognition.
In the A Final of that specialty, the gold went to Australian Shayna Jack with 24.67 seconds, the silver to American Olivia Wunsch (24.78) and the bronze to also local Mollie O’Callaghan (25.39).
