100 free men's podium - credit: Satiro Sodré

The Brazilian Thiago Pereira conquered, on this first day, two gold medals - 400m (4:06.47) and 100m medley (52.35), as well as Therese Alshammar, who won the 50m freestyle (24.46) and the 100m butterfly (57.04); and the Japanese Miyuki Takemura, who won the 50m and 200m backstroke.

Therese, who has already taken part in many stages held in Brazil, said she is very happy every time she swims in Brazil: "I love competing in Brazil. I get motivated to swim here, especially on a sunny day like this, it’s very delightful", says Therese.


Therese Alshammar (SWE) - credit: Satiro Sodré

Thiago broke a South American record in the 100m medley (52.42) which belonged to him since the World Cup Series held in Berlin in 2007. He hadn’t checked his time until he got to the press area and admitted he was surprised with the result: “Really? I was expecting to get to 53 seconds. It was a great surprise because I’ve broken the previous record wearing the suit. It’s been a good competition because I needed this intensity of getting out of an event and getting into another one – explained the swimmer. In the 100m medley, the silver medallist Henrique Rodrigues also got the time of 53.68”.

The Japanese Sakiko Nakamura was the first to win gold in the competition, winning the 800m freestyle (8:27.53). In the next event, the men’s 100m freestyle, Cesar Cielo won (47.16) in a very tight dispute against the German Steffen Driebler (47.18). Reflecting on his race, he said: “It was a calm event. I hesitated in the beginning, but I was able to recover at the end. Because of that it was tight. It’s always good to start with gold and it was worth the medal. Now I will focus on the 50m freestyle. It’s always good to swim at home, it gives extra energy.”

The Swedish Joline Hoestman (1:07.44) won the 100m breaststroke, and the Brazilian Felipe Silva (26.56) the 50m. The Brazilian Guilherme Guido won the 100m backstroke (51.44) in a very tight dispute with the American Randall Ball (51.56). Teammate Peter Marshall, record holder of the event in the World Cup, got the third place (52.17). The winner of  the women’s 50m backstroke was the Japanese Miyuki Takemura (27.12).

Another Brazilian, Leonardo de Deus, was the winner in the 200m butterfly (1:53.78), leaving behind the Russian Nikolay Skvortsov (1:54.00) and the Japanese Ryusuke Sakata (1:54.65). The German Steffen Deibler (22.49) won the 50m butterfly, event in which he is World record holder and championship record holder, with 21.80.

The swimmer Tatiana Lemos Barbosa won the 200m freestyle (1:58.08). The podium was completed by the Japanese Sakiko Nakamura,  (1:59.43), who got her third medal during the first day of finals.


Sakiko Nakamura (JPN) - credit: Satiro Sodré

Check out the best performances of this first day at Rio de Janeiro:

MEN
1. Thiago Pereira (BRA) – 100m IM – 52.35 – 912 pts
2. Steffen Driebler (GER) – 50m Fly – 22.49 – 911 pts
3. Kazuki Otsuka (JPN) – 200m Breast – 2.05.60 – 887 pts
4. Leonardo de Deus (BRA) – 200m Fly – 1.53.78 – 882 pts
5. Cesar Cielo (BRA) – 100m Free – 47.16 – 865 pts

WOMEN
1. Therese Alshammar (SWE) – 100m Fly – 57.04 – 899 pts
2. Sakiko Nakamura (JPN) – 800m Free – 8.27.53 – 870 pts
3. Miyuki Takemura (JPN) – 200m Back – 2.06.24 – 863 pts
4. Tatiana Lemos Barbosa (BRA) – 200m Free – 1.58.08 – 835 pts
5. Joanna Maranhão-Melo (BRA) – 200m IM – 2,12.56