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ROME, Italy, July 28. ITALY's Alessia Filippi set off the crowd at the FINA World Championships with a triumphant time in the women's 1500 free.
Filippi finished the marathon swim with a meet-record effort of 15:44.93 for the win. The readout is the second-fastest of all time, behind only Kate Ziegler's world record of 15:42.54 set at the TYR Swim Meet of Champions in 2007. Filippi did erase Ziegler's meet mark of 15:53.05 set in 2007.
Denmark's Lotte Friis charged down the final 50 meters in a late attempt to catch Filippi, but had to settle for silver with a 15:46.30, which is the third-swiftest time ever and also below Janet Evans' previous global standard of 15:52.10 from 1988.
Romania's Camelia Potec completed the podium with a bronze-winning effort of 15:55.63.
Chile's Kristel Kobrich Schimpl (15:57.57), Spain's Erika Villaecija (16:00.25), South Africa's Wendy Trott (16:09.22), Australia's Melissa Gorman (16:09.66) and the United States' Chloe Sutton (16:16.10) comprised the rest of the heat.