Credit to Rachel Perreault | Director, Athletics Communications
FUKUOKA, Japan – Nine Aggies are set for swimming competition to begin at the 2023 World Aquatics Championships, held at the Marine Messe Fukuoka from Saturday, July 22 through Sunday, July 30. The Aggie swimmers will represent seven different countries as four current members of the Texas A&M swim programs will be in action along with five Aggie pros.
On the women’s side, Beryl Gastaldello (France), Aviv Barzelay (Israel), Miranda Grana (Mexico), McKenna DeBever (Peru) and Jing Wen Quah (Singapore) have each earned a spot to compete at World Championships. This will mark the sixth World Championships for Gastaldello, fourth long course. The two-time Olympian recently notched a pair of top-three finishes at French national championships in June, going 24.83 in the 50m free and 53.92 in the 100m free. A rising junior, Barzelay is set for her second long course World Championships. She clocked a personal-best time of 2:10.42 in the 200m back at 2022 championships in Budapest, and most recently earned gold at Israeli Championships in the same event. Grana, an incoming freshman, has had a busy and successful year on the international stage as she heads to her first long course Worlds. She recently brought home three goal medals at the Central American and Caribbean Games, including an individual top-finish in the 100m back (1:02.18). At Mexican National Championships earlier this year, Grana posted personal bests and top-three finishes in the 100m free (57.43), 200m back (2:15.52), 50m back (28.81) and 100m back (1:01.41).
Rising sophomore Baylor Nelson and Aggie pro Shaine Casas will compete for Team USA, while rising junior Munzy Kabbara (Lebanon) and Aggie pro Hector Ruvalcaba (Mexico) will also be in action. Nelson punched his ticket to his first World Championships with a pair of top-five finishes at the Phillips 66 National Championships in June. Nelson went a personal-best 1:46.51 in the 200m free and 4:15.87 in the 400m IM to position himself to make the U.S. World Championships roster. He also added a top-10 finish in the 200m IM (1:59.61). Casas heads to his fourth World Championships, second long course, following an impressive finish at the Phillips 66 National Championships that saw him secure a roster spot on the final day of competition. After being the final swimmer to qualify for the 200m IM final, Casas popped off in the final, going 1:57.47 to claim silver from Lane 8 and earn a spot on Team USA for Worlds. Casas also added top-five finishes in the 50m back (24.70) and 100m fly (51.42) finals.
Live results from the event can be found here, while finals will air live each day at 6 a.m. CT on Peacock beginning Sunday, July 23 and running through Sunday July 30. More information about World Aquatic Championships can be found here.