Gui Caribe Breaks Jose Finkel Trophy Record with 45.61, Wins SCM 100 Free Gold

At the 2026 Jose Finkel Trophy in Brazil, day three saw Gui Caribe win the men's 100m freestyle short course (SCM) gold with a meet record of 45.61 seconds. This performance places him just 0.14 seconds off his own South American record (45.47) and 0.77 seconds behind the world record (44.84 by Kyle Chalmers). Split analysis shows a front-loaded race: 21.65/23.96, with a slow third 25m (12.09s) indicating a suboptimal turn at the 50m wall. Pedro Souza surprised in the 200m butterfly, winning in 1:51.18—a massive 4.82-second improvement from his 2026 best of 1:56.00. Etiene Medeiros, returning from childbirth at age 35, won the women's 50m backstroke in 26.92, just 0.38 seconds off the qualification standard. The Jose Finkel Trophy serves as Brazil's selection meet for the 2026 Short Course World Championships in Beijing. Caribe and Souza have qualified; Alves (46.92) missed the 100m free standard by 0.03 seconds, while Medeiros needs further opportunities. Brazil's sprint freestyle remains strong, bolstered by the NCAA pipeline (Caribe trains at University of Tennessee). Souza's emergence fills a gap in butterfly, while Medeiros shows veteran resilience. The upcoming SC Worlds will test whether these athletes can convert domestic form into international medals.