Barbados: Yeziel Morales sweeps event at PRISO 2023 50 25.50 NR, 100 55.19 and 200 1:58.71 NR. Yeziel Morales is the complete backstroker in the CCCAN region.
Lifespan 007 Open Water Swim took to Facebook and stated that it was on display in 2022 with backstroke sweeps at CCCAN in Barbados and the PAN Am Aquatics Champs in Trinidad and Tobago. Also his historic semi final berth in the 200 metre event at the 2022 World Championships in Hungary.
At the recently concluded 2023 Puerto Rico International Swim Open home fans were able to see swimming male athlete of the year displays his skills. In the 50-metre backstroke he out paced the field to win a new MR, PR and NR record of 25.50. He was the only sub 26 seconds before. That bettered his previous NR of 25.52 set the 2021 CCCAN championships.
That 25.52 is the fastest time ever swum at CCCAN.That was a World Champs B time and brings him ever closer to the A standard of 25.16.That swim ranks him as the third fastest swimmer ever in the CCCAN region.It is faster than Trinidad and Tobago’s David McLeod 2018 CAC Bronze medal winning time of 25.55.
In the 100 metre event he was the sole sub 56 second swimmer. He split 26.69 en route to a SB of 55.19. That was under his nation’s PAN AM qualification standard of 55.50. It is also under the World Champs B standard of 55.92. It is also faster than the 2018 Silver medal winning time of 55.48 by Cuban Armando Barrera. Yeziel’s NR of 54.89 has him as the third fastest ever from the CCCAN region.
In the 200 metre backstroke heats he split 58.30 en route to a new MR and NR of 1:58.71. That was under Puerto Rico’s PAN AM qualifying time of 2:01.24. He is very close to the World Champs A standard of 1:58.07. His old record was 1:59.38 at the 2021 South American Championships where he split 57.72. So his sprint endurance has improved.His new NR is faster that Mexican Andy Song’s 2018 CAC Games record time of 1:59.95
No other swimmer from CCCAN has ever been under 26, 56 and 1:59.00 for this event.
Look for the Master from Azura Florida Aquatics to continue to set overall regional standards in this stroke for 2023 and on the Road to Paris 2024.
