Federica Pellegrini is set to compete in her fourth straight Olympic Games, opting for a more sprint-oriented schedule than in years past. The 400 meter freestyle World Record holder pre-Ledecky will contest the 100 and 200 free races individually in Rio and swim on all three Italian relays.
Male distance duo Gabriele Detti and Gregorio Paltrinieri are two other medal threats highlighting the Italian Olympic roster– Paltrinieri qualified for the team as a Kazan gold medalist in the 1500, while Detti swept both the 400 and 1500 free races at Italian Spring Nationals.
New Italian national record-holders Simone Sabbioni and Martina Carraro were fast enough at Nationals in the 100 back and 100 breast, respectively, to qualify for Rio as well.
The 2016 Italian Olympic Team is not finalized yet, however. The selection process below:
- Any individual medalists from the 2015 FINA World Championships
- Event winners at the Italian Championships who hit an Italian Olympic qualifying “A” or “B” time (see table below).
- Event runners-up at the Italian Championships who hit an Italian “A” cut time.
- In events where only 1 swimmer qualifies from the Italian Championships, the Federation will compare the runner-up times to those of the highest-finishing Italians at European Championships in May to allocate the 2nd spot, provided the swims are under the B standard.
- In events where no one qualifies at the Italian Championships, the Federation will take up to the two fastest Italians from Euros, provided both are under the B standard.
- If there are still spots available after Euros, the Federation will fill them with the top finishers at Sette Colli at the end of June, provided they swim under the B standard
- The federation will consider all of the directly qualified athletes to see if the roster can fill out its relay lineups. If not, athletes who hit a “C” standard at Italian Championships, European Championships and Sette Colli (in that priority order) will be considered for selection.
Bottom line: the Italian roster isn’t close to being filled yet, and we’ll have to wait for results from Euros and possibly Sette Colli to know the full lineup for Rio. Below is a wrap-up of who has qualified for Rio individually thus far.
OLYMPIC ROSTER (THUS FAR)
MEN
- Luca Dotto (50 free, 100 free)
- Gabriele Detti (400 free, 1500 free)
- Gregorio Paltrinieri (1500 free)
- Simone Sabbioni (100 back)
- Matteo Rivolta (100 fly)
- Federico Turrini (400 IM)
WOMEN
- Federica Pelligrini (100 free, 200 free)
- Ilaria Bianchi (100 fly)
- Martina Carraro (100 breast)
There are many more qualifiers already for the European Championships in London, which take place next month. The full (and finalized) roster below:
EURO CHAMPS ROSTER
MEN
- Federico Bocchia (50 free)
- Jonathan Boffa (400 free relay)
- Giacomo Carini (200 fly)
- Christopher Ciccarese (200 back)
- Piero Codia (50 fly, 100 fly)
- Mitch D’Arrigo (800 free relay)
- Luca Dotto (50 free, 100 free, 400 free relay, 400 medley relay, 800 free relay)
- Gabriele Detti (200 free, 400 free, 1500 free, 800 free relay)
- Luca Leonardi (400 free relay)
- Filippo Magnini (400 free relay)
- Luca Marin (400 IM)
- Phillip Megli (800 free relay)
- Luca Mencarini (200 back)
- Gregorio Paltrinieri (1500 free)
- Luca Pizzini (200 breast)
- Simone Sabbioni (50 back, 100 back, 400 medley relay)
- Matteo Rivolta (100 fly)
- Andrea Toniato (50 breast, 100 breast, 400 medley relay)
- Federico Turrini (200 IM, 400 IM)
WOMEN
- Federica Pelligrini (100 free, 200 free, 400 free relay, 400 medley relay, 800 free relay)
- Silvia DiPietro (50 free, 50 fly, 400 free relay)
- Ilaria Bianchi (100 fly, 400 medley relay)
- Martina Carraro (50 breast, 100 breast, 4o0 medley relay)
- Alice Mizzau (400 free, 800 free relay)
- Simona Quadarella (800 free, 1500 free)
- Diletta Carli (800 free)
- Elena Gemo (50 back, 50 fly)
- Carlotta Zofkova (100 back, 400 medley relay)
- Margherita Panziera (200 back)
- Stefania Pirozzi (200 fly, 800 free relay)
- Alessia Polieri (200 fly)
- Arianna Castiglioni (50 breast)
- Lisa Fissneider (200 breast)
- Ilaria Scarcella (200 breast)
- Francesca Fangio (200 breast)
- Luisa Trombetti (200 IM, 400 IM)
- Carlotta Toni (200 IM, 400 IM)
- Ilaria Cusinato (200 IM)
- Sara Franceschi (400 IM)
- Martina De Memme (800 free relay)
- Erika Ferraioli (400 free relay)
- Aglaia Pezzato (400 free relay)
Marco Orsi got cytomegalovirus and could not attend Nationals. He will have a chance to get a spot on the team in London or at Sette Colli
No Scozzoli?
What about the Bomber, Marco Orsi?