Cuban Rodolfo Falcón Jr.

Havana, May 1 (JIT) - Cuba's Rodolfo Falcón Jr. had a golden closing in the Puerto Rico Open Swimming 2023, winning spectacularly the 1,500-meter freestyle and finishing with three medals.

Falcón Mojarrieta came from behind and finished off local Diego Dulieu, from the Azura Florida Aquatics club, with a time of 15:57.29 minutes, his second best time ever in this event. Thus, he added 753 points in the comparative thousand points table to the world's best.

His surprised rival clocked 15:57.64 and was followed by his fellow countryman Christian Bayó, who achieved a time of 16:02.61.  

Bayó, from the capital, went under 16 minutes for the first time in a phase of the European Mare Nostrum circuit in Barcelona, where he clocked 15:42.83.

In the competition in the neighboring Caribbean island, Falcón Mojarrieta also won medals in the other two events in which he took part. He won gold in the 400 freestyle with 4:02.49 minutes, which represented his best performance in the distance and for which he obtained 743 units, despite being a long-distance swimmer.

He opened his participation with bronze in 800 meters and a time of 8:21.11 minutes, the best after the 8:16.24 he achieved in the Mare Nostrum 2021 and it was enough for him to enter the book of national records in this section.

Rodolfito, as his closest friends call him, is preparing for the Central American and Caribbean Games of San Salvador 2023, for which his qualification is assured.