PESARO, Italy, July 28. THE final night of long course meter swimming at the Italian National Championships held in Pesaro, Italy, gave the fans in attendance something fun to watch as several titles came down to photo finishes including one tie.<\/p>\n
The first final of the night provided an instant spark for the Italian fans as Mirco Di Tora and Enrico Catalano battled in the men's 100 back. Di Tora came out on top, 55.68 to 55.69, while Damiano Lestingi clocked a 56.27 for third.<\/p>\n
The close calls continued in the women's 100 back as the final touch was actually TOO close to call. Romina Armellini and Elena Gemo deadlocked at 1:03.61 for the title, while Veronia Neri finished just behind for a third-place 1:03.63.<\/p>\n
The men's 200 butterfly proved no different with the top five finishers separated by less than a second. Niccolo Beni claimed the title in 2:00.01, while Michele Cosentino (2:00.17), Francesco Vespe (2:00.47), Joseph Davide Natullo (2:00.55) and Federico Bussolin (2:00.70) placed second through fifth, respectively, to give the fans an exciting finish.<\/p>\n
Obretta Plos won by just a bit more of a comfortable margin in the women's 200 breaststroke when she hit the wall in 2:31.43. That effort beat Silvia Rossi (2:32.94) and Irene Bonora (2:33.09) for the victory.<\/p>\n
In the men's 200 breast, Paolo Bossini picked up the crown in 2:13.90, while Edoardo Giorgetti (2:15.12) and Luca De Matteis (2:15.20) fought for second place.<\/p>\n
Samuel Pizzetti came through the men's 1500 freestyle with a win in 15:11.67 to hold off Federico Colbertaldo's second-place readout of 15:16.27, while in the much shorter women's 50 butterfly, Cristina Maccagnola touched just shy of her Italian record of 26.79 with a winning-time of 26.88 for the win. Gemo, after tying for the 100 back title, finished second in 27.66.<\/p>\n
Italian superstar Filippo Magnini concluded the day with a 49.22 in the men's 100 free to win the title over Alessandro Calvi (50.09) and Luca Pasteris (50.79).<\/p>\n