Cubans register for Swimming Meet in Martinique

Edited by Ed Newman
2023-01-09 13:57:13

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Cuban swimmers

Havana, January 9 (JIT) - Four members of the national youth pre-selection have been registered for the Claude Sufrin in Memoriam Swimming Meet in Martinique 2023, scheduled for January 14 and 15. 

Fifteen-year-old Melissa Cabrera, Maria Carla Victores, Jonathan Arias and Yunieskel Clavelo, the remaining 14 "primaveras," will compete in four individual events each and in the mixed 4x50-meter freestyle relay, national swimming commissioner Nelson Garcia Fernandez informed JIT.

At the Le Lamentin Community Aquatic Center in Fort-de-France, capital of that island, Melissa will compete in the 100-meter butterfly, the 100 and 200 freestyle and the backstroke. Maria Carla, also from Havana, will compete in the 100 and 200 freestyle, and in the 50 and 100 backstroke.

Jonathan from Avileña will swim in the Olympic pool in the 50 and 100 freestyle, as well as in the 50 backstroke and butterfly; Yunieskel from Camagüey will swim in the 100 and 200 freestyle, and in the 100 butterfly and breaststroke.

This meeting between swimmers of children and youth categories is held in memory of the newt Claude Sufrin, who died on December 20, 2002 at the age of 13.

As in previous editions, teams from other neighboring islands such as Barbados, St. Lucia, Suriname, Guadeloupe and Guyana are expected to participate, so that the novice swimmers can improve their times and enjoy the experience in this open-air pool complex.

In their last commitment of the year 2022, the Andres Perez Cup held in Havana, our swimmers lowered or came close to their personal bests in several events. This is the reason why they were chosen for their international debut in this Meeting. 

Melissa dominated the 200 butterfly and won silver in the 400 free, behind the second best swimmer in the field, Andrea Becali. She was also the only one able to cover the 800 and 1500 freestyle.

Maria Carla excelled in the 50 and 200 backstroke with gold medals, and in the 50 freestyle with a bronze medal. She almost reached the podium in the 50 butterfly and the 100 free (fourth), only surpassed by older women.

Yunieskel captured a bronze medal in the 200 freestyle, placed fifth in the 50 freestyle, sixth in the 100 freestyle and 50 breast, and seventh in the 100 and 200 breast. In almost all the finals he led his age group (14 years old).

As required at this stage, the novices swam in many events and styles. Arias was no exception and excelled in his group, although everyone is aware that the vital thing is the times to achieve the most points for the World Aquatics thousand points table (close to the world record).

The swimmer from Avileña competed in seven events: he came in fourth and fifth in the 50 and 100 freestyle, respectively; sixth and eighth in the 100 and 50 backstroke; seventh in the 200 individual medley; and ninth and eleventh in the 100 and 50 butterfly. Precisely in this last event he reached the highest number of units (486).

Melissa and Jonathan are part of the Cuban pre-selection for the Central American and Caribbean Games of San Salvador 2023. María Carla and Yunieskel are among the most promising youngsters.  

The quartet will travel on January 10 to Martinique accompanied by youth team coach Mirta Diaz and national methodologist Amaury Ramirez.



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