Federica Pellegrini Fires Up 200 Free With Scorcher

RICCIONE, Italy, April 12. SWIMMING World Magazine's 2009 World Swimmer of the Year Federica Pellegrini kept on rolling at the Italian Nationals.

Tonight, she blasted a 1:56.51 in the women's 200-meter freestyle to jump ahead of Sarah Sjostrom (1:56.55) at the top of the world this year. Pellegrini's effort moves her back into the mix of favorites to win the world title in Barcelona later this summer, a crown she owned both in 2009 and 2011.

Alice Mizzau placed second to Pellegrini in the finale with a 1:58.67, putting herself into top 15 consideration, while Martina De Memme clinched third-place honors with a 2:00.24.

In the following event, Federico Turrini gave the Italian record a go in the men's 200-meter free with a 1;58.86, but fell just short of Alessio Boggiatto's standard of 1:58.33 from the 2009 World Championships in Rome. Fabio Scozzoli touched a distant second in 2:01.15, while Davide Cova wound up third in 2:02.05.

Marco Orsi clocked a swift time of 21.98 to own the men's 50-meter freestyle crown, coming just short of the Italian mark of 21.82. That time put Orsi into the mix at the top of the world with the likes of Florent Manaudou (21.62), Nathan Adrian (21.70) and Bruno Fratus (21.92) as sub-22 second swimmers this year. Luca Doto finished second in 22.03, while Federico Bocchia raced to third in 22.29.

Gregorio Paltrinieri and Gabriele Detti pushed each other under 15:00 in the men's 1500-meter freestyle this evening. Paltrinieri won in 14:55.10, while Detti took second in 14:58.78. Those are the second and third fastest times this year. Sun Yang is head and shoulders above the world with a 14:48.10 from Chinese Nationals, while Ryan Cochrane is the only other sub-15:00 swimmer this year with a 14:59.73 from Canada. Luca Baggio placed third tonight in 15:07.04.

Arianna Barbieri raced to victory in the women's 50-meter backstroke with a 28.56, while Elena Gemo took second in 28.88. Stefania Cartapani completed the top three with a time of 29.18. Lisa Fissneider hit the wall in 31.47 to claim the women's 50-meter breaststroke crown. Michela Guzzetti (31.58) and Ilaria Scarcella (31.76) placed second and third.

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