July 23, 2015

COLUMBIA, S.C. ââ’¬” Rising sophomore Tomas Peribonio wrapped up the 2015 Pan Am Games this past weekend with lifetime bests in each of his four events and three Ecuadorian national records.

Peribonio now holds the Ecuadorian record in the 200-meter freestyle (1:50.98), 400-meter freestyle (3:55.70) and 400-meter IM (4:21.70). He advanced to the B final of the 200 and 400-meter freestyle, finishing 12th and 13th overall, respectively. Peribonio’s highest finish of the meet was seventh in the A final of the 400-meter IM. He closed out the week winning his heat and going 15:43.36 for a 12th-place finish in the 1500-meter freestyle.

“This has been a magnificent last year for Tomas,” said associate head coach Mark Bernardino. “He’s gone from being a junior national swimmer in the United State to becoming an SEC finalist, an NCAA All-American and a Pan-American Games finalist (racing in the A or B final) in a total of four events. He’s set national records in three events for Ecuador. That’s an incredibly fast assent, by any standard. He’s done it all with a positive attitude, a terrific work ethic and an incredibly competitive mindset when he races. I think those have been the keys to success for Tomas. He practices happy and I think because he practices happy and positive, its allowes him to relax at his biggest moments.”

Peribonio will represent Ecuador at the FINA World Championships in Kazan, Russia, August 2-9.

Read more on Peribonio here.