Pilato Sets First World Junior Mark In 50 Breast & Two Italian Records Fall at Nico Sapio

Benedetta Pilato missed her own Italian record she set in the heats in the 50 breast SCM. Photo Courtesy: Becca Wyant

The first of two days from the 2019 Nico Sapio Meet in Genova, Italy took place on Friday night as the meet is serving as a qualification for the European Short Course Championships in December for the Italian team. The first day witnessed what will be the first World Junior Record over 50m breaststroke is ratified.

World Junior Champion Benedetta Pilato took the 50 breaststroke in 29.74 after a 29.41 in heats. Short-course junior marks are relatively new on FINA’s books and the international federation does not backdate them. The efforts of Ruta meilutyte, for example, do not count. As such, the target time for swimmers eligible to break the mark is 29.86.

For reference, the fastest time from the ISL this year came from Lilly King, who swam a 29.12 in Naples, and Alia Atkinson swam 29.27 and 29.31 at the ISL as well. Pilato won the silver medal at the World Championships this summer at just 14-years-old behind King.

Two Italian SCM records also fell on the first night with the likes of Francesca Fangio in the 200 breast and Lorenzo Mora in the 200 back.

Some of Italian Swimming’s biggest stars also took wins on Friday night with World Champion Simona Quadarella winning the 400 free.

Mora won the 200 back with a 1:50.45, lowering Simone Sabbioni’s 1:50.75 Italian record from 2015. The fastest time in the world for 2019 has been Evgeny Rylov’s 1:49.24 from the ISL Naples meet as Mora is not far off the pace of the two-time reigning World Champion.

Fangio swam a 2:20.56 in the 200 breast to take down Giulia de Ascentis’ Italian record of 2:20.93 from 2013. Lilly King has the fastest time in the world with a 2:18.25 from the ISL Indianapolis meet so Fangio, who did not swim at the World Championships, is on pace with some of the best in the world.

Reigning 1500 free World champion, Quadarella, who has stated she “is dedicating her efforts at the three-day Nico Sapio meet to colleagues who lost their lives in an explosion last Monday in Quargnento, a town in the Province of Alessandria in the Italian region Piedmont.

Quadarella, of Rome, told Italian media: “These are the days of mourning; my mind is on making a gesture of solidarity.” She won the 400 free with a 4:01.17. Since the inclusion of the 1500 to the Olympic program, Quadarella has since shied away from the 400 free in favor of the longer 1500, an event she won the World title in this summer. She famously pushed world record holder Katie Ledecky for 750 meters in the 800 final at Worlds, setting up a duel in both distances at the Olympics next summer.

Other Winners From Nico Sapio Meet (All Times Short Course Meters)

Men’s 50 Back: Guilherme Guido, 23.44
Women’s 50 Fly: Ilaria Bianchi, 26.12
Men’s 200 Free: Matteo Ciampi, 1:43.72
Women’s 100 Free: Erika Ferraioli, 54.08
Men’s 100 Breast: Nicolo Martinenghi, 57.25
Men’s 100 Fly: Matteo Rivolta, 50.66
Women’s 200 Fly: Anna Pirovano, 2:06.20
Men’s 50 Free: Federico Bocchia, 21.22
Women’s 100 Back: Silvia Scalia, 57.72
Women’s 400 IM: Luisa Trombetti, 4:35.25
Men’s 200 IM: Alberto Razzetti, 1:54.58
Men’s 1500 Free: Domenico Acerenza, 14:41.18

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