2023 ITALIAN OPEN LONG COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Tuesday, November 28th – Thursday, November 30th
- Riccione, Italy
- LCM (50m)
- 2024 World Championships & 2024 Olympic Games Qualifier
- Doha 2024 World Cup Qualification Criteria
- Paris 2024 Olympics Qualification Criteria
- Italian Athletes Pre-Qualified for 2024 World Championships
- SwimSwam Preview
- Entry List
- Live Results
SwimSwam Italia’s Complete Guide to the 2023 Italian Long Course Championships
The 2023 Italian Open Long Course Championships saw two swimmers qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, with both competitors stemming from the men’s side.
First, 24-year-old Alberto Razzetti ripped a new Italian national record en route to winning the men’s 200m IM. He notched a gold medal-worthy result of 1:56.21, his first-ever foray under 1:57 territory, to grab the gold in a time fast enough to qualify for the Olympic Games.
You can read more about Razzetti’s monster swim here.
Freestyle ace Gregorio Paltrinieri was the other swimmer to gain Paris qualification, nabbing a bid for his 4th Olympic Games appearance.
The 29-year-old stopped the clock in a result of 14:41.38 to take the men’s 1500m freestyle title, beating the field by 16 seconds in the process. Luca De Tullio settled for silver well back in 14;57.99 while Matteo Diodato also landed on the podium in 15:07.41 for bronze.
At the 2022 World Championships, Paltrinieri won gold in this grueling event but had since turned his attention toward open water. He dropped the 1500m free event in Fukuoka, relinquishing an attempt to defend his title.
Post-race, Paltrinieri stated this evening, “I came away very dissatisfied with what happened in Fukuoka and I worked a lot at the start of the season. I wanted to make time for the Olympics, I had it in my head and I wanted to do it immediately. I missed competing. I still feel like this race is mine and I care a lot about it.”
He now takes over as the top performer in the world this season.
2023-2024 LCM Men 1500 Free
FINKE
WR 14:30.67
| 2 | Daniel Wiffen | IRL | 14:34.07 | 02/18 |
| 3 | Gregorio PALTRINIERI | ITA | 14:34.55 | 08/04 |
| 4 | David BETLEHEM | HUN | 14:40.91 | 08/04 |
| 5 | Kuzey Tuncelli | TUR | WJR 14:41.22 | 08/04 |
The men’s 200m back saw Lorenzo Mora beat the field by nearly a second en route to clocking a mark of 1:57.23.
Matteo Restivo was next in 1:58.20 while Christian Bacico rounded out the top 3 in 1:59.95.
Mora’s effort dipped under the 1:57.5 needed for Doha and he now ranks 9th in the world on the season in this event.
Additional Notes
- Backstroke World Record holder Thomas Ceccon checked in with a time of 23.11 to top the men’s 50m fly podium. Ceccon is already pre-qualified for Doha in this event. He owns a lifetime best of 22.68, the Italian Record, from Fukuoka gold.
- Chiara Tarantino claimed gold in the women’s 50m free, however, her winning effort of 25.08 was well off the QT needed for both Doha and Paris.
- National record holder Margherita Panziera was absent from the women’s 200m back, which saw Erika Gaetani reap gold in her stead. Gaetani notched 2:12.91, although she’ll need to go faster in the spring to add her name to the Olympic roster.
- The women’s 200m fly saw Alessia Polieri get to the wall first in 2:09.69, the sole sub-2:10 performer of the field.
- Luca Pizzini reaped gold in the men’s 200m breast in 2:11.63 while Francesca Fangio got it done for the women in 2:24.19.
- Matteo Ciampi snagged gold in the 200m free for the men in 1:47.74, outside the 1:46.0 needed for Doha.
- The women’s 400m free was won by Simona Quadarella in 4:07.23. The Olympic medalist is already pre-qualified for Doha in the 800m and 1500m free events.
- Anita Gastaldi topped the women’s 200m IM podium in 2:12.60.
ATHLETES QUALIFIED FOR THE DOHA 2024 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
- Gregorio Paltrinieri 800 freestyle/1500 freestyle
- Thomas Ceccon 50 butterfly, 50/100 backstroke
- Simona Quadarella 800/1500 freestyle
- Nicolò Martinenghi 50/100 breaststroke
- Sara Franceschi 400 medley
- Benedetta Pilato 50 breaststroke
- Anita Bottazzo 50 breaststroke
- Alberto Razzetti 400 breaststroke/ 200 breaststroke
- Leonardo Deplano 50 freestyle
- Lorenzo Mora 200 backstroke
ATHLETES QUALIFIED FOR THE PARIS 2024 OLYMPIC GAMES
- Gregorio Paltrinieri 1500 freestyle
- Alberto Razzetti 200 meter medley
After Fukuoka Paltrinieri said in an interview he was considering dropping his pool events to focus on open water–so glad this doesn’t appear to be the case
What are the Italian qualifications procedures?
They are included in the bullets the top of this post.
Either Razzetti’s 200m/400m breastroke qualifications are a typo or breastrokers’ schedules are about to get a lot worse
Why can no Italian man swim a decent 200 breast? Martinenghi is a pure sprinter, and he’s arguably their best…
Paltrineri simply cannot be underestimated, 14:41 is legit for November
Absolutely. This guy just repeatedly delivers world class swims almost at will. Scheduling of Openwater events before pool doesn’t make it easy for guys like Paltrinieri, but he certainly can’t be ruled out of winning a 1500 pool swim anywhere. One of the greatest, in my eyes.
So Italy are sending a full team to Doha?
They still need to qualify for Paris relays apart from men’s 4×100 free
they’ll qualify in the m4x200 since they were 5th at worlds, and there won’t be 13 other countries that will beat their time