18-Year-Old Carlos D’Ambrosio Breaks Filippo Magnini’s 200 SCM Free Italian Record In 1:41.61

2025 Criteria Nazionali Giovanili Meet

• March 28-30, 2025
• Riccione, Italy
• Short Course Meters (25 meters)
• Event Page
• Live Results

At the 2025 National Youth Meet in Riccione, Italy, 18-year-old Carlos D’Ambrosio broke the Italian record in the men’s 200 SCM freestyle.

The 2007-born athlete touched the wall in 1:41.61, winning the event 5.18 seconds, and taking down Filippo Magnini‘s 2009 record of 1:41.65 from the European Championships in Istanbul, Turkey.

Entering this competition, D’Ambrosio’s previous lifetime best was 1:43.25, set at the Short Course World Championships this past December in Budapest, Hungary, where he placed 13th overall. At that same meet, he earned a bronze medal in the 4×200 free relay, posting a split of 1:41.48 on the third leg. The Italian team’s final time of 6:47.51 at that competition set a new national record.

Most of D’Ambrosio’s improvement can be attributed to his first 150 meters, as he was 1.67 seconds faster through the first 150 compared to his previous best. His third 50-meter split was the most significant factor, as he outsplit his previous pace by 0.82 seconds on that 50 alone. See the full splits comparison between the two performances below.

Splits Comparison:

D’Ambrosio’s record marks a monumental moment in his young career, particularly because it was a Magnini record. Magnini is one of the most accomplished Italian swimmers of all time, with 53 international swimming medals across both short and long course. His accolades include gold medals in the men’s 100m freestyle at both the 2005 World Championships in Montreal and the 2007 World Championships in Melbourne. On the Olympic stage, he won a bronze medal in the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay at the 2004 Athens Games.

18-year-old D’Ambrosio will be one to watch as we enter the long course season, as his personal bests include 48.55 in the 100 LCM freestyle and 1:46.69 in the 200. He represented Italy at the Paris Olympic Games last July, swimming on the 4x200m freestyle relay that finished 9th, just 0.20 seconds shy of making the final. He swam the third leg of that relay, the same leg he swam at the recent Short Course World Championships, splitting 1:47.24. Joining him on the relay were Giovanni Caserta (1:46.85), Alessandro Ragaini (1:48.08), and Filippo Megli (1:46.46).