By guest writer Julia Wilkinson-Minks (2008 & 2012 Canadian Olympian)<\/i><\/p>\n
MERSIN, Turkey, June 25. AFTER five days of competition at the 2013 Mediterranean Games, the Italian swimmers thoroughly proved that they were the swimmers to beat in Mersin.<\/p>\n
In the first event of the evening, familiar face Damir Dugonjic of Slovenia won the men's 50-meter breaststroke in 27.63. Dugonjic was a finalist in the 100-meter breaststroke at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, and was also an NCAA Champion in the 100-yard breaststroke for Cal in 2010. <\/p>\n
Italy won its first of 4 gold medals on this final night of competition in the women's 50-meter breaststroke: 2012 Olympian Michela Guzzetti won in 31.51.<\/p>\n
In the men's 200-meter butterfly, Velimir Stjepanovic of Serbia won another gold medal in these games, winning in 1:56.19. On the women's side, Italy's Stefania Pirozzi took gold in 2:09.83.<\/p>\n
Italy capped off their gold rush of a meet by winning both relays. The men's 400-meter medley relay of Matteo Milli, Andrea Toniato, Piero Codia and Gianluca Maglia finished two seconds ahead of second-place Greece in 3:38.25. In the women's 400-meter medley relay, Elena Gemo, Giulia De Ascentis, Elena Di Liddo, and Silvia Di Pietro blew away the field, winning in 4:04.85.<\/p>\n
Italy's medal haul was substantial at this year's Mediterranean Games: 51 total medals, 20 gold, 19 silver and 12 bronze. As far as the 2020 Olympic bid goes, you can bet that Turkey will have Italy's vote.<\/p>\n
Julia Wilkinson-Minks is a two-time Olympian for Canada and was a finalist in the 200-meter IM at the 2008 Beijing Games. In 2010, she became Texas A&M's first ever NCAA champion in swimming when she won the 100-yard freestyle. She graduated from Texas A&M with a degree in Speech Communication. Julia retired from competitive swimming following the London Olympic Games and now lives in Texas with her husband Shane. <\/p>\n
Follow her on twitter @juliah2o<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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