Rio de Janeiro, April 10 (IANS) Swimmer Leonardo de Deus has recorded the world’s fastest 200m butterfly time of the year to take gold at the Brazilian Championships here.
The 24-year-old clocked one minute and 55.19 seconds to finish ahead of Kaio Marcio (1:56.99) and Marcos Ferrari (1:58.66) at the Fluminense pool on Thursday, reports Xinhua.
The time eclipsed the previous 2015 best of 1:55.39 set by Denmark’s Viktor Bromer in March.
“To get this time less than a year and a half before the Olympics gives me a lot of motivation,” Deus said.
Thursday’s performance guarantees Deus a berth in the event at August’s World Championships in Kazan, Russia.
He is also due to contest the 400m freestyle and 200m breastroke in Rio this week.