Sette Colli Trophy: Therese Alshammar Clips Textile Best

ROME, Italy, June 19. THE Sette Colli Trophy put another edition in the books with a long course meter textile best going up on the scoreboard.

Therese Alshammar downed her textile best time in the women's 50 fly by the slimmest of margins with a winning effort of 25.37. That swim cleared her previous textile best of 25.38 clocked during the Monte Carlo stop of the Mare Nostrum circuit earlier this month. Alshammar's effort this evening is the fourth fastest all time, behind only her world record (25.07), and a pair of Marleen Velhuis (25.28, 25.33) times clocked during the techsuit era. Alshammar now owns seven of the top 10 all-time performances in the sprint fly.

Jeanette Ottesen touched second in 25.69 to move to fourth in the world rankings behind Alshammar, Inge Dekker (25.57) and Sarah Sjostrom (25.67), while Fran Halsall clocked a 25.86 for third tonight and sixth in the world rankings this year. Ranomi Kromowidjojo (25.74) and Yuka Kato (25.98) are the other swimmers to have broken 26 this year. Kromowidjojo finished fourth tonight in 26.16, while Veldhuis placed fifth in 26.38.

Federica Pellegrini grabbed fifth in the world rankings in the women's 200 free with a 1:56.85 for the win. Only Kylie Palmer (1:55.73), Bronte Barratt (1:55.74) and Camille Muffat (1:55.95) have been faster so far. Zsuzsanna Jakabos placed second in 1:57.68, while Joanne Jackson (1:58.06) and Silke Lippok (1:58.56) finished third and fourth. Jakabos improved to 16th in the world rankings, while Jackson moved to 20th. Lippok already stands 12th with a 1:57.42 from earlier this month.

Radoslaw Kawecki used a superior final 50 meters to shut down Sebastiano Ranfagni, 1:58.32 to 1:58.83, in the men's 200 back. Kawecki's best time this year is a fourth-ranked 1:56.90, while Ranfagni moved to 22nd in the world with his effort. Nick Driebergen rounded out the top three in 1:59.78.

Elizabeth Simmonds, who holds third in the women's 200 back world rankings with a season-best 2:07.49 from the British Nationals this past week, cruised to victory in a meet-record 2:08.26 tonight. That swim beat her previous mark of 2:08.31 set last year. Kirsty Coventry took second in 2:09.59, short of her seventh-ranked season best of 2:08.41, while Jenny Mensing picked up third in 2:11.24. Mensing's top time this year puts her 20th with a 2:10.21.

Rikke Moller Pedersen topped the women's 200 breast in 2:26.20, short of her 11th-ranked best time of 2:24.91 from April. Chiara Boggiatto finished second in 2:28.38, while Alia Atkinson beat Jenna Laukkanen, 2:29.57 to 2:29.89, for third place.

Coventry returned in the women's 200 IM with a victorious 2:11.81. Her best time this year is a seventh-ranked 2:11.36. Evelyn Verraszto touched second in 2:13.70, while Kathryn Meaklim wound up third in 2:14.98.

Roland Schoeman touched out Rafael Munoz and Milorad Cavic for the men's 50 fly triumph. Schoeman posted a top time of 23.60, shy of his fourth-ranked season best of 23.43. Munoz, meanwhile, finished in 23.66 for second and a tied for ninth in the world rankings. Cavic placed third in 23.68 for a tie for 12th in the world rankings.

Gregorio Paltrinieri won the men's 1500 free in 15:04.90 for seventh in the world rankings, while Rocco Potenza took second in 15:06.13 for ninth in the world. Federico Colbertaldo earned third-place honors with a 15:11.10 to crack the top 20.

Christian Von Lehm edged Edoardo Giorgetti, 2:13.12 to 2:13.18, for the men's 200 breast title. Marco Koch placed third in 2:13.26, while Akos Molnar (2:13.73) and Giedrus Titenis (2:13.84) finished fourth and fifth.

Filippo Magnini captured the men's 100 free title in 49.27, while Sebastiaan Verschuren finished second in 49.35. Markus Deibler snatched third-place honors in 49.36. Deibler clocked a 49.33 to lead preliminary qualifying. David Verraszto topped the men's 200 IM in 2:00.31, while Joe Roebuck placed second in 2:01.69. Jan-David Schepers earned third in 2:01.76.

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