Laurent Estrada, the most outstanding swimmer for Cuba in the World Swimming Championship

Laurent Estrada was the most outstanding of the trio of Cubans who attended the World Short Course Swimming Championship of Budapest 2024, which concluded this Sunday in the Hungarian capital.

The 21-year-old broke the national record in 100 meters backstroke by setting 1:00.74 minutes in the opening, and approached in the closing to the 200 with 2:12.78 minutes, to finish in 30th place with her personal best and meet very well her individual goals.

In this way, the world debutant erased the previous Cuban primacy in the 25-meter pool, which was 1:01.25, while she showed progress in the other distance, whose record is 2:12.01, both achieved by Andrea Becali in the 2021 world meet in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

In the freestyle, the capital city's athlete fell short of expectations in the 100 (54.87) and 200 (1:57.11), set by Elisbet Gámez in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

However, it was the 20-year-old who set the best technical marks. With her time of 55.83 in the hectometer, she obtained 729 units in the 1,000-point table, which compares with the world records, as well as 771 in the 200 by running it in 2:00.26. On Sunday, she placed 28th.

Coach Luisa María Mojarrieta is confident in her technical-athletic capacity and conditions, so she has plenty of possibilities to continue progressing and obtain much better results. Andrea has been preparing since the beginning of November at the world center in Australia, thanks to a World Aquatics scholarship.

The young male representative, Vladimir Hernandez, in his world premiere swam much better in the 400 (4:07.02 minutes) than in the 800 (4:07.02), but in general he fulfilled his objectives in the race, which meant a positive experience for him, since he is the only Cuban newt with a B mark for the II Pan American Junior Games of Asuncion 2025.