Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom took a run at the world record in the women’s 100-meter fly at the Sette Colli Trophy meet.
Sjostrom uncorked a 56.04 to lower her own European record, and nearly take down Dana Vollmer’s smoking world record of 55.98 from the 2012 London Olympics.
Sjostrom went out in 26.41 and came back in 29.63 for the 56.04 here in Rome. That swim cleared her previous best of 56.06 from the 2009 World Championships and now stands as the second-fastest 100 fly ever.
All Time 100 Fly
[table “” not found /]Elena Di Liddo placed second in 57.75 to still manage to move up to sixth in the world, while Liliana Szilagyi claimed third in 59.20.
Sjostrom doubled up with a victory in the women’s 50-meter free. She clocked a time of 24.44 for the win, moving to sixth in the world rankings.
Chantal van Landeghem claimed second in the sprint free with a time of 24.94, while Silvia Di Pietro picked up third-place honors in 25.23.
Ruta Meilutyte nearly cleared her world best in the women’s 100-meter breast with a sizzler tonight.
Meilutyte clocked a time of 1:05.68, just off her world-best 1:05.46 from the Canet stop of the Mare Nostrum. Her time tonight is still faster than Yuliya Efimova’s second-ranked 1:05.89 from the Mission Viejo Invitational.
Jennie Johansson (1:07.19) and Ilaria Scarcella (1:08.02) placed well behind, with Johansson still managing to improve on her 12th-ranked season best of 1:07.29.
Florent Manaudou also nearly downed his own world best with a meet-record time in the men’s 50-meter free.
Manaudou hit the wall in 21.64, erasing his 21.80 mark from 2013. That swim also nearly beat his world best of 21.57 from French Nationals.
Ari-Pekka Liukkonen tied Andrey Govorov for second in the splash-and-dash with matching 22.09s.
Elena Gemo downed her Italian record in the women’s 50-meter back with a 28.07 for the win. That swim pushed her to eighth in the world, and cleared her 28.27 mark from the 2009 World Championships. It also beat Emily Seebohm’s meet record of 28.31 from 2008.
Daryna Zevina finished second in the sprint back with a time of 28.41, while Mimosa Jallow claimed third in 28.46.
Niccolo Bonacchi clipped Camille Lacourt, 25.16 to 25.19, in the men’s 50-meter back in an upset victory. Lacourt is the top ranked swimmer in the world with a 24.56 from French Nationals, while Bonacchi hasn’t broken 25 seconds yet this year.
Simone Sabbioni wound up third in the sprint back with a time of 25.39.
Coralie Balmy edged Diletta Carli, 4:05.26 to 4:05.49, in the women’s 400-meter free. Those swims put Balmy and Carli into fifth and seventh in the world, respectively. Erica Musso rounded out the podium with a third-place time of 4:08.09.
Peter Bernek cruised to victory in the men’s 400-meter free with a 3:48.83. Damien Joly finished second in 3:49.88 with Jordan Pothain earning third in 3:51.53.
Giedrius Titenis earned the men’s 100-meter breast crown with a time of 1:00.10 to move to 10th in the world. Cameron van der Burgh placed second in 1:00.77, well off his fourth-ranked 59.78 from the South African Nationals. Fabio Scozzoli took third in 1:00.89.
Matteo Rivolta won the men’s 100-meter fly in 52.30 with Piero Codia taking second in 52.35. Mehdy Metella snared third in 52.45 in what was a close 1-2-3.
Gregorio Paltrinieri topped the men’s 800-meter free in a time of 7:52.35. That’s well off his fourth-ranked 7:50.43 from the Italian Nationals, but enough for the win tonight.
Gergely Gyurta placed second in 7:54.77, while Damien Joly snagged third in a time of 7:55.22.
Boglarka Kapas won the women’s 1500-meter free in 16:09.48. That swim pushed her up to eighth in the world rankings.
Martina Caramignoli touched second in 16:12.44 with Aurora Ponsele claiming third in 16:19.03.
Sarah will show the Swedish Steel…watch out.
Here is again something to write about for Casey Barrett. She is strongly built, she swims many distances and strokes very fast, she is good early in season and she is not from the US. She has been to two Olympics, but did not get an Olympic medal yet, and she could be a threat in Rio. And she is getting better times in the past few years. Just like Katinka Hosszu…
Abbas Hussain Dhanji