Costa Rican swimmer Helena Moreno, was granted a scholarship by the International Swimming Federation (FINA) in recognition to her progress and achievements in the last few years.

Moreno, who is just 16-years-old, managed a mark of 4:17.56 in 400 meter freestyle during the Indianapolis, USA Grand Prix; the record for a Costa Rican swimmer is held by Claudia Poll who achieved a mark of 4:17.36 back in September, 1990.

The Costa Rican athlete, native from Liberia, Guanacaste, is training under the supervision of coach Pablo Camacho, the mark earned her the classification to the FINA Swimming World Championship that will take place in Budapest, Hungary from July 23 to July 30 this year. Moreno also classified to the Youth Olympics in Argentina.

The swimmer was one of 32 talented swimmers in the world that were picked to receive the scholarship.

The financial assistance given to Moreno is of close to $2,000 USD a month, and the purpose is to give her the best tools to prepare for the World Cup in Budapest and the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.

According to the FINA website ¨Joining this program, the swimmers have various options for their training. They can either train within their NF training programs when approved by FINA or they can join one of FINA approved training Centres in Thanyapura (THA), Spire Institute in Geneva (USA) and soon the FINA Development Centre in Dakar, Senegal¨.