Pilato And Ceccon Set Italian Records As They Book Tickets To Tokyo 2020

Benedetta Pilato: Photo Courtesy: Mine Kasapoglu / ISL

Benedetta Pilato and Thomas Ceccon both set national records and qualified for Tokyo 2020 on day one of the Italian Open Championships in Riccione.

Pilato went 1:06.02 to slice more than a second off her previous best and in the process eclipsed the Italian record set by Martina Carraro when she stopped the clock at 1:06.36 en-route to bronze at the 2019 World Championships.

Fellow teenager Ceccon became the first Italian to break through the 53-second barrier in the 100 back when he stopped the clock at 52.84.

Pilato, the 15-year-old who won silver in the 50br at those same world titles, had been on superb form throughout the ISL where she represented Energy Standard.

She translated that to the 50m pool, going out in 30.64 and coming back in 35.38 to book her spot on the Italian team for the Olympics next July.

Carraro clocked 1:06.58 with Arianna Castiglioni third in 1:07.01.

Thomas Ceccon: Photo Courtesy: FINA / Budapest 2019

Ceccon, the 2019 world junior champion, split 25.73/27.11 to demolish Simone Sabbioni‘s national mark of 53.34 that had stood since 2016.

It was enough for the 19-year-old to secure a ticket to Tokyo.

Federica Pellegrini clocked a time of 1:57 .58 in the 200 free, Silvia Di Pietro was the fastest home in the 50 fly in 26.54

Martina Caramignoli took the 1500fr in 16:07.73 and Silva Scalia went 28.03 in the 50 back.

Nicolo Martinenghi went 59.31 in the 100br and Matteo Rivolta stopped the clock at 52.20 in the 100 fly.

Matteo Ciampi swam the fastest 400 free in the timed finals with Alessandro Bori stopping the clock at 22.05 in the 50fr.

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