Sette Colli: World Record-Holders Federica Pellegrini, Cesar Cielo Win on Day One

ROME, Italy, June 14. THE first day of the prestigious Sette Colli meet is underway today in Rome, with several top swimmers in attendance. Italy's Federica Pellegrini and Brazil's Cesar Cielo each earned wins to open the meet, while South Africa's Cameron van der Burgh set the only meet record of the day in the men's 100 breast.

Italy's Federica Pellegrini, the world record-holder and one of the top contenders to win the women's 400 free next month in London, held on for a slim victory today with a time of 4:06.03. Denmark's Lotte Friis led the race for 300 meters but slipped to second in 4:06.15. Friis moves to 14th in the world with that swim, while Pellegrini was already ranked seventh with a 4:05.70. Italy's Martina de Memme finished third in 4:09.55.

In the men's 400 free, Gabriele Detti of Italy pulled away over the final 100 meters to post a winning time of 3:49.27. Fellow countryman Andrea Mitchell D'Arrigo hung with Detti for most of the race but fell off the pace at the end, touching in 3:51.72. Tunisia's Ous Mellouli, who recently qualified for the London Olympics in the men's 10k open water event, placed third in 3:51.73.

Denmark's Rikke Moller Pedersen turned fourth at the halfway point of the women's 100 breast, but her back half speed propelled her to a first-place time of 1:07.88. Satomi Suzuki of Japan finished second in 1:08.15, while Jennie Johansson of Sweden came in third at 1:08.17. Pedersen moved into a tie for 19th in the 2012 world rankings, while Johansson already owns a sixth-ranked time of 1:07.10.

South Africa's Cameron van der Burgh set a new championship record in winning the men's 100 breast, posting a time of 1:00.39 for the victory. Van der Burgh dipped under one minute last month in Barcelona with a 59.73. Italy's Fabio Scozzoli finished right behind in 1:00.43, while Giacomo Perez Dortona of France placed third in 1:00.88.

The women's 100 fly featured a loaded field of Olympic and world championship finalists. At the finish, The Netherlands' Inge Dekker came out on top in 58.25. Sweden's Sarah Sjostrom, the world record-holder in the event, came in second at 58.57, while Martina Granstroem of Sweden wound up third in 58.81. Sjostrom has the fastest time in the world this year at 56.79.

South Africa's Chad Le Clos continued what has been a busy summer full of fast swimming with a win in the men's 100 fly. Le Clos swam a 52.51 to overtake Kenya's Jason Dunford (52.65) and Poland's Konrad Czerniak (52.72). The top seven finalists all finished within a half second of each other in one of the closest races of the meet so far.

A battle between three sprint freestyle heavyweights went down in the women's 50 free, but in the end it was The Netherlands' Ranomi Kromowidjojo who got to the wall first. Kromowidjojo posted a 24.21 for the win, just off her top-ranked swim of 24.10 from April. Sweden's Therese Alshammar posted her fastest time of the year to finish second in 24.52. Marleen Veldhuis of The Netherlands swam a 24.58 for third.

Brazil's Cesar Cielo, the world record-holder and defending Olympic champion in the men's 50 free, came out on top in a heat that was too close to call. Cielo beat France's Florent Manaudou by one one-hundredth, 22.17 to 22.18. Ari-Pekka Liukkonen swam a 22.30 for third, while the remaining five finalists all came in under 22.39. Cielo currently has the fastest time this year at 21.38 from April.

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