Alberto Montini’s Near World Record Highlights Italian Masters Nationals
RICCIONE, Italy, June 30. ALBERTO Montini was the highlight of the Italian Masters long course championships last week, nearly taking down his world record in the 200 breaststroke.
Montini, 46, posted a 2:24.63 in the 200 breast, just missing out on his world mark in the 45-49 age group of 2:24.39 from May 2013. Montini was less than a second ahead of his record pace at 100 meters but fell a little behind at the 150 and rallied too late to beat the record.
Race footage:
Montini also owns the world record for the 40-44 age group in the long course 200 breast with a 2:18.94 from 2009.
Montini told Swimming World he was happiest with his swims in the 200 and 400 individual medley events, breaking national records in both. He swam a 2:15.07 in the 200 IM to break the national record of 2:16.09, and a 4:48.36 in the 400 IM that shattered the national record of 4:57.54. He still has a long way to reach Nicolas Granger’s world records in those events. Granger’s 200 IM world record stands at an incredible 2:11.22, while his 400 IM mark of 4:44.76 seems unapproachable.
Race footage, Montini’s 200 IM
A total of 31 Masters national records fell in Riccione last week. Click here to see the full records list.