Sette Colli, Day 2: Michele Lamberti Matches Italian 50 Back Record; CRs For Sjostrom, Miressi & Quadarella
Michele Lamberti matched Thomas Ceccon’s Italian 50 back record in 24.40 while Sarah Sjostrom, Alessandro Miressi and Simona Quadarella all hit championship standards on day two of the Sette Colli in Rome.
Ceccon set the national standard at the European Championships in 2022 with Lamberti tying that mark for gold with the former second in 24.55 for an Italian 1-2.
Guillherme Basseto was third in 24.82.
Photo Courtesy: Andrea Staccioli / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
Sjostrom set her second championship record in as many days as she followed up her 24.73 50 fly with a new mark in the 100 free.
Out in 25.35 – 0.04 behind race leader Siobhan Haughey – the Rio 2016 bronze medallist came past the Hong Kong swimmer with a 27.22 second 50.
Sjostrom – whose 51.71 WR has stood since the 2017 worlds – touched in 52.57, 0.21 ahead of Tokyo silver medallist Haughey who clocked 52.78.
The Swede – who will only contest the 50 free plus relays in Paris – also sliced 0.07 from Haughey’s championship mark of 52.64 set last year.
Great Britain’s Anna Hopkin was third in 53.53.
Also of note was Penny Oleksiak’s victory in the B final in 53.77, the 2016 joint Olympic champion alongside Simone Manuel finishing outside the 53.77 A cut.
Miressi went 48.08 for a new 100 free CR after splitting 23.16/24.92.
The Italian took 0.02 from David Popovici’s 48.10 from the 2023 Sette Colli with the Romanian churning up the waters at the European Championships in Belgrade.
Matt Richards – the 2023 world champion over 200 free – was second in 48.45 with Guillherme Santos taking third in 48.80.
Simona Quadarella: Photo courtesy: Deepbluemedia
Quadarella set her second CR of the 2024 Sette Colli, a day after going 15:48.27 in the 1500 free.
The Olympic bronze medallist had a real tussle with Isabel Gose, who had finished second in the longest race in the pool behind the Italian.
However, the German was on top for much of the 800 and had a narrow 0.02 lead into the final turn only for Quadarella to unearth a 29.30 last 50 to touch in 8:18.95 to 8:19.20.
As with the 1500, Leonie Martens was third on Saturday, clocking 8:27.92.
Another Martens sibling was on the podium in the men’s race as Lukas won the 7:43.52 to go fifth in the 2024 rankings.
Luca de Tullio was second in 7:45.80 in a strong field that featured world champion Daniel Wiffen (7:46.83) and Florian Wellbrock (7:48.07) in third and fourth respectively.
Medley Thrills, Spills And Records
Ellen Walshe set an Irish record of 4:37.18 in the women’s IM en-route to heading a quality field at the Sette Colli, five weeks before the programme begins at Paris 2024.
The 2021 world short-course silver medallist had posted a national standard of 4:37.94 three weeks ago at the Irish Open and Olympic Trials before lowering it by 00.76 at the Foro Italico.
Sara Franceschi (4:38.77) and Freya Colbert (4:40.15) joined Walshe on the podium.
Photo Courtesy: Andrea Masini / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
Daiya Seto dominated throughout to win the men’s long medley in 4:09.68, elevating the Rio 2016 bronze medallist fifth in the 2024 rankings.
It was a season’s best for the Japanese swimmer, outstripping the 4:10.44 he posted at the Australian Championships in April.
Max Litchfield came from fourth at the 300 to move to second in 4:14.51 with Charlie Hutchison third in 4:14.90.
Giacomo Carini was ahead from start to finish as he won the men’s 200 fly in 1:54.34, just 0.06 off Federico Burdisso’s Italian record.
Tokyo bronze medallist Burdisso was second in 1:55.20 with Alessandro Ragaini third in 1:56.28.
Louise Hansson led throughout to win the 100 fly in 57.34, holding off the challenge over the second 50 of Rikako Ikee with the Japanese clocking 57.36.
Kira Toussaint won the women’s 100 back in 1:00.13.