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From eighth to fourth in 50 meters,

Hugo González

de Oliveira made a spectacular progression to scratch his first Olympic final, in the 100 backstroke, although his star test is the 200 styles, in which he was European champion this year. The contact with this first final, to which he agreed with the seventh fastest time of the semifinalists, which will take him to the eighth street, is very important to cushion the pressure on the 22-year-old Mallorcan, the face of the future of the Spanish swimming in the fall of Mireia Belmonte.

The semifinal was demanding, given the quality of rivals such as the Russians, under the Olympic flag,

Kolesnikov

and

Rylov

. But, unlike in the finals, this is usually beneficial when it comes to obtaining the classification, given the references they offer. It happened, for example, to

Mireia

in the direct semifinals of 400 styles. The risk is to break down in the beginning. It is the impression that Hugo González offered, when he saw himself

last while passing through the first 50

. However, he had reservations, a fact that shows that he swam with calculation, a sign of competitive maturity.

The Spaniard needed to get closer to the 52.90 he did at the

Budapest European Championship

to get on the second step of the podium. He did 53.05 in Tokyo, 40 hundredths better than in the semifinals, contrary to what happens at the Aquatic Center, where it has been customary to swim faster in the afternoons than in the mornings, even in some finals. It happened to the semi-final winner of Hugo González and one of the favorites, Kolesnikov, who went from 52.15 in series to 52.90. In the final he will go, surely, faster.

Hugo González, the

son of a Spanish father and a Brazilian mother

, has already taken one more leap than in Rio, where he competed very young and reached the semifinals of this same test.

Now he has to manage the participation in the final of the 100 backstroke with the series of 200 styles, where he aims more clearly for a medal, as it is a more open event.

The march of swimmers like

Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte

has left the styles open to more alternatives, as we saw in the 400, where Chase Liszt's gold was accompanied by a mediocre record.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

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