Rosolino Establishes National Record in 800 Free at Italian World Champs Trials

By John Lohn

RICCIONE, Italy, April 8. CONSIDER Massi Rosolino’s performances at the Italian World Championship Trials to be statements for Montreal. But, he hasn’t been the only individual churning out quality times. The first two days of the Italian Championships were held Wednesday and Thursday, but Day 3 was delayed until Saturday due to the funeral proceedings of Pope John Paul II.

En route to winning the 800 freestyle, Rosolino established a national record in the event, clocking 7:50.40. Not only did Rosolino prevail comfortably over Emiliano Brembilla, Rosolino came close to setting a European record. The Euro standard sits at 7:49.72 and is held by Yuri Prilukov.

Rosolino also blistered a 200 freestyle of 1:48.21 and was followed by Brembilla (1:48.79), Filippo Magnini (1:48.84) and David Berbotto (1:49.85). Certainly, the Italians will be in the medal mix in the 800 free relay in Montreal.

The Italian women have produced a pair of national records during the first two days, behind the efforts of Federica Pellegrini and Caterina Jackets. Pellegrini raced to a 4:10.38 mark in the 400 freestyle, which took down the former record of 4:10.71, set in 1987 by Tanya Vannini. Pellegrini also won the 100 free in 54.55. As for Jackets, she set an Italian record in the 200 butterfly with a swift 2:08.83, the seventh-fastest European time in history.

In other swims of note, Alexander Terrin has been impressive in the 50 and 100 breaststroke events, as he’s gone 27.80 for the 50 and 1:01.35 for the 100. In the 400 individual medley, Alessio Boggiatto clocked in at 4:14.78 to defeat Luca Marin in 4:16.22.

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