Hugo Gonzalez seizes the opportunity and wins silver in the 100m backstroke at the World Championships.

Two pitiful, great hundredths are divided Hugo Gonzalez gold in the 100m backstroke. Well three. With two he equaled the mark Hunter Armstrong, his training partner in California. With three I would have surpassed him. The American ran 52.68. The Spaniard, who completed the 50m first in 25.53, finished with a score of 52.70. Both maintained a close and exclusive fight from the very beginning. One or the other will win. Not both, others fought for bronze and found themselves in the hands of a Greek. To Apostle Christ (53.36).

If Hugo Gonzalez de Oliveira, let’s use his elegant name in full as a tribute to his feat, had been taller, perhaps he would have won. He’s not exactly small. It measures 1.92. But Armstrong reaches 2.03. At 50 meters this height is more important than at 100. But even in a hectometer this is not a trivial matter. Armstrong won not only with punches. He is an excellent swimmer, having won bronze at the last two world championships (Budapest 22 and Fukuoka 23). But in this case, the size of his arms and wings were on his side.

It cannot be denied that when tested in Fukuoka, American Ryan Murphy and Italian Thomas Ceccon, world record holder, in addition. And also the Russians Evgeny Rylov And Kliment Kolesnikovgold and silver at the last Olympic Games. But at big competitions there is always someone missing. The World Cup is the World Cup, no matter who they are or who they are. There are no problems. This is Hugo’s first medal at the World Championships and it thus confirms, if there were no other exhibition performances, his status as the leader of Spanish swimming.

This is also Spain’s fourth medal at the World Championships, following those from Spain. Rafa Muñoz, Ashwin Wildebur (bronze in the same test in 2009) and Martin Lopez Zubero.

Hugo already had more than the Olympic minimum. On the morning of the qualifying series, he achieved this in the 800m. Carlos Garach. However, his time of 7:50.55 did not allow him to qualify for the final of the high-level competition, in which 17 people earned a ticket to the French capital. Garach was fifteenth.