Thomas Ceccon & Benedetta Pilato Named To Italy Squad For European Short-Course Championships
Thomas Ceccon, Benedetta Pilato, Nicolo Martinenghi and Simona Quadarella have been named to an Italian squad of 30 for December’s European Short-Course Championships in Otopeni, Romania.
While the team of 15 men and 15 women includes world champions, Olympic medallists and those who’ve cut a swathe through international junior waters, there’ll be no trip to Romania for Gregorio Paltrinieri, who won the 800-1500 free double at the 2022 World Short-Course Championships in Melbourne.
Instead, Paltrinieri will continue his training preparations for 2024 with the Paris Olympics only eight months hence.
While some swimmers had already achieved qualification times for the meet which runs from 5-10 December in Otopeni, selection was finalised following the Nico Sapio Trophy in Genoa.
Lorenzo Mora: Photo Courtesy: Andrea Masini / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
There, Ceccon rattled Alberto Razzetti’s Italian 200IM record and also won the 100 back while Razzetti – second in the short medley – claimed a gruelling 4IM/200 fly double on Saturday.
Lorenzo Mora won the 50 and 200 back before coming in second to Ceccon over 100.
Pilato won the 50 and 100 breaststroke double as well as taking bronze over 200m with Simona Quadarella – returning to competition for the first time since winning 1500 silver at the Fukuoka worlds – claiming the 400 and 800.
Seventeen-year-old Sara Curtis is also called up to cap a year in which she won three golds – including the 50 free – and two silvers at the European Junior Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, before going on to take bronze in the girls’ medley relay at the world equivalent in Netanya, Israel.
Italy finished third in the medal table at the 2022 short-course worlds in Melbourne, Australia behind the USA and Australia with five golds among 16 medals.
They also set WRs in the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay (3:02.75) and 4x50m medley relay (1:29.72).
Italy team for the European Short-Course Championships in Otopeni from 5-10 December
Women:
Lisa Angiolini
Sofia Morini
Chiara Tarantino
Silvia Di Pietro
Giulia D’Innocenzo
Simona Quadarella
Margherita Panziera
Costanza Cocconcelli
Anita Bottazzo
Francesca Fangio
Benedetta Pilato
Martina Carraro
Sara Franceschi
Jasmine Nocentini
Sara Curtis
Men:
Leonardo Deplano
Lorenzo Zazzeri
Alessandro Miressi
Marco De Tullio
Luca De Tullio
Matteo Ciampi
Lorenzo Mora
Thomas Ceccon
Nicolò Martinenghi
Simone Cerasuolo
Federico Poggio
Michele Busa
Alberto Razzetti
Christian Ferraro
Giovanni Izzo