Aggies Shine at Short Course Worlds

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Nine Aggies traveled to Australia for the World Aquatics/FINA Short Course World Championships, a six-day event held at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre. Aggie pros Beryl Gastaldello, SydenyPickrem, Shaine Casas, McKenna DeBever and Angel Martinez were joined by current members of the men's team, Kaloyan Bratanov and Kaloyan Levterov, as well as recent signee Miranda Grana and men's associate head coach Jason Calanog.

Casas made three trips to the medal stand at World Championships, earning an individual silver medal with a time of 1:48.01 in the 200m back. Casas helped lower the American record and claim a silver medal with a time of 1:30.37 in the 4x50m medley relay. He added a third-place finish in the 4x100m free relay (3:05.09) and helped position Team USA for a gold medal finish, competing in prelims to qualify the 4x50m mixed medley relay for the final. Casas went 51.36 in the 100m medley and 1:51.31 in the 200m medley to place fourth in each event.

Bratanov and Levterov combined to set four new Bulgarian national records throughout the week. Bratanov lowered the 200m medley record with a time of 1:54.50, while also setting new national marks as a member of the 4x50m free relay (1:26.58) and 4x100m free relay (3:12.15). He also helped Bulgaria advanced to its first relay final at World Championships, eventually placing eighth with a time of 6:59.12 in the 4x200m free relay. Levterov, who also competed in both backstroke events individually, set a new 4x100m medley relay record, going 3:33.05.

Gastaldello advanced to the finals in all three individual events she competed in, earning a silver medal in the 100m medley with a time of 57.63. Her most notable performance of the week came in the 4x50m mixed free relay, when she and her French teammates brought home gold and set a new world record with a time of 1:27.33. Gastaldello just missed the podium, placing fourth in the 50m fly (24.85), and added top-seven finishes in the 100m free (52.13), 4x50m medley relay and 4x100m medley relay.

Pickrem brought home bronze in the 4x100m medley relay with a time of 3:46.22. She helped position her Canadian teammates for a silver medal finish in the 4x200m free relay, notching a top-eight time in prelims. Pickrem added a fourth-place finish in the 4x50m medley relay (1:43.56). Individually, she clocked in at 58.26 in the 100m medley, 2:05.22 in the 200m medley and 2:19.35 in the 200m breast to notch top-six finishes in the finals of each event.

Grana, a member of A&M's 2023 signing class, set a new Mexican national record with a time of 58.80 in the 200m back, while also adding a top-25 time of 27.17 in the 50m back.

DeBever took down a pair of Peruvian national records, after going 1:00.48 in the 100m medley and posting a time of 3:47.22 in the 4x100m free relay. She also competed individually in the 200m medley (2:12.85), and as a member of the 4x50m free, 4x50m medley and 4x100 medley relays. Martinez rounded out the Aggies in action at World Championships, posting times of 1:53.16 in the 200m fly, 51.06 in the 100m fly and 23.32 in the 50m fly.

Schedule

Players Mentioned

Kaloyan Bratanov

Kaloyan Levterov

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