Penn State’s Castano Wins Bronze, Places Fourth at Pan-Am Games

By Kenny Varner Jr.
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Updated: August 11, 2019

Courtesy of GoPSU sports

Current and former Nittany Lions shine in Lima

LIMA, PERU – Penn State men’s swimmer Gabe Castano (Mexico) won bronze in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay and placed fourth individually in the 50m free, while women’s swimming alumna Alyson Ackman won four medals (2 silver, 2 bronze) at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.

Castano’s bronze was earned Wednesday night when he and his teammates touched third in 3:17.70. He then neared his own Mexican national record in the 50m freestyle Friday night, touching fourth in 20.23 seconds, .13 seconds shy of the Olympic A standard.

Castano is returning to Penn State for his junior year and competed in his first NCAA Championships this past March.

Joining Castano in Lima was fellow Nittany Lion Carlos Vasquez (Honduras). Vasquez was a B-finalist in the 200m butterfly, ultimately placing 14^th in a personal best 2:02.74, and narrowly missed advancing in the 100m fly, posting a personal best time of 56.01 to place 17^th.

On the women’s side, Ackman opened the games with a pair of bronze medals on the first day, placing third individually in the 400m free (4:12.05) before joining the 4x100m free relay for another bronze (3:41.01). Friday night, she helped Canada to a silver medal in the 4x200m free (3:41.01), and Saturday she did the same swimming in the preliminary heat of the 4x100m medley relay. Ackman was also a finalist in three other individual freestyle events, placing fourth in the 200m (1:59.929), fifth in the 100m (55.81) and eighth in the 50m (25.87).

Fellow 2016 graduate Melissa Rodriguez competed for Mexico and narrowly missed the medal stand, placing fourth in both the 100m (1:07.74) and 200m (2:25.81) breaststroke.