Two national records in four hours. Three Portuguese records broken and two Olympic minima achieved for Paris 2024 in two days. Achieved best mark of the year in the 100-meter freestyle. Here is the summary of Diogo Ribeiro’s outstanding performance at the Portuguese Swimming Open. And there’s more on the schedule, with the 100m butterfly (Saturday) and the 50m butterfly (Sunday).
The Benfica swimmer has been showing everything that has been expected of him since becoming a true phenomenon of Portuguese swimming in 2022 with unprecedented results and medals to adorn the achievements. Today, the 18-year-old Madeira athlete started the day by breaking the national record he had held since August last year in the 100m freestyle. Diogo secured a place in the final in 48.01 seconds and won it in 47.98 seconds, some four hours later, bettering Portugal’s maximum. Miguel Nascimento (Benfica) was second with 49.63 seconds and Tiago Costa (Sporting) third with 50.17 seconds.
It is the second best global brand of the year, just behind China’s Wang Haoyu, with 47.89 seconds. “It’s spectacular. At the moment it’s fundamental to swim well, technically and with a lot of power (…) From the lap to the afternoon final, the only thing I changed was the finish, the last 10 meters without breathing and in one stroke 50 meters with the arm outstretched and I think that made all the difference for the afternoon,” said the swimmer who will enter the pool today for the 100-meter butterfly – his specialty.
The figures achieved yesterday surpass the Paris 2024 lows (set at 48.34 seconds). The 18-year-old athlete has so far secured his presence at the next Olympics in two disciplines: 50m and 100m freestyle. The young swimmer is not only the first Portuguese to reach under 48 seconds in the highest swimming distance, but also shows that his hopes for Olympic finals are legitimate. Diogo did the 100m freestyle in 47.98 seconds, which would guarantee him a final in Tokyo 2020, for example, when Caeleb Dressel finished the race in 47.02 seconds, setting a new Olympic record.
The world record, this one, belongs to the Romanian David Popovici (46.86s), achieved last year at the European Championships in Rome, where he dethroned Cielo (46.91s) after 13 years. The Brazilian was trained by Albertinho, the Luso Brazilian who now trains the Portuguese prodigy.
Diogo shone in the 100m freestyle then (with fewer bangs) in the 50m freestyle, when on Thursday, still in qualifying, he broke the national record (21.87s) and guaranteed minimums for the next Olympics and World Cup Fukuoka (July 14-30), proves he will be tested for the first time as a senior and on a global scale.
He was blackmailed into learning butterfly swimming
The Benfica swimmer wants to improve his times in the 50m (tomorrow) and 100m butterfly (today). The moth is the discipline of choice for this athlete from Coimbra who is an example of overcoming challenges. As he told DN, Diogo was into swimming and soccer at the age of six (!) until a teacher confronted him with the need to make a choice. So he also decided to put the teacher in a similar dilemma: “I’ll only keep swimming if you teach me to butterfly swim…”
And so the phenomenon was born, guaranteeing that it is prepared for media attention and the pressure to become the best Portuguese swimmer ever. After all, at the age of 18 he is already in the history of swimming. He is one of three Portuguese medalists, along with Alexis Santos (bronze at the 2016 European Championships, in the 200m freestyle) and Yokochi (silver in the 200m breaststroke in Sofia 1985). Diogo won bronze in the 50m butterfly at the 2022 European Championships in Rome.
Camila: record and play
Not only the success of Diogo Ribeiro lived in Portuguese swimming. Also Camila Rebelo guaranteed her presence at the Olympic Games yesterday. The 20-year-old swimmer, who represents Louzan/Efapel and won the Spanish Open, set a new national record – 02:09:84 – in the 200m backstroke.
Camila thus joins the young Benfica player on the list of swimmers with a guaranteed presence at Paris 2024. Tomorrow she will participate in the Portuguese Open, in Madeira, also in the 200 backstroke.
Also today, at the Portuguese Open, Francisca Martins broke the national record of 100 free. The swimmer from Foca Quinta da Lixa won the final with 56.25s, improving the previous maximum (56.39s) that belonged to Ana Pinho Rodrigues since 2019. Francisca Martins adds the new maximum to the 200m freestyle (2.00.96m) already achieved this year at the Arena Lisbon International Meeting 2023.
Source: DN
