Alumna earns nine medals in elite international competition

Former Texas A&M College of Architecture student Liliana Ibáñez ’14 is being [hailed] (http://www.ridmx.com.mx/la-phelps-mexicana-que-arraso-en-barranquilla-liliana-ibanez/) as the next Michael Phelps by Mexican news outlets after earning five gold medals swimming in the [2018 Central American and Caribbean Games] (http://barranquilla2018.com/) .

Ibañez, the top medal-earner in the early August competition held in Barranquilla, Colombia, now holds Mexican swimming records in the 50-, 100-, and 200-meter freestyle and the 50-meter butterfly. She also earned one silver and three bronze medals, netting a medal every time she competed.

She earned gold medals in the women’s 4x100-meter combined relay, mixed 4x100 relay, women’s 4x100 free relay, mixed 4x100 free relay and women’s 4x200 free relay. She also won silver in the 50 freestyle and bronze in 100 and 200 free and the 50 butterfly.

Ibáñez, 27, is from Celaya, Mexico and swam for Texas A&M from 2010-2014, where she set multiple school records. She earned a [Bachelor of Urban Planning] (http://laup.arch.tamu.edu/academics/undergraduate/bs-urpn/) degree in 2014 and a [Master of Land and Property Development] (http://laup.arch.tamu.edu/academics/graduate/mlpd/) degree in 2018.

While a [student] (https://12thman.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=704) at Texas A&M, Ibáñez competed for Mexico in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London where she finished 25th in the 100 freestyle and 26 ^th in the women’s 200 freestyle. She competed in the 2011 Pan American Games, winning 4 ^th overall in the 200 freestyle, and at the 2013 World Championships, finishing 20 ^th in the 50 freestyle.

As a freshman, she placed second in five competitions in 2011 Big 12 Championships before Texas A&M switched to the SEC.

In SEC Championships her junior year, she took sixth place in the 50 freestyle, fifth place in the 200 freestyle and fifth in the 100 freestyle. She placed 13th in the NCAA Championships in the 50 freestyle.

Sarah Wilson
swilson@arch.tamu.edu