2026 Sette Colli Trophy Day 3 Prelims: G. Walsh And Sjostrom Set For 50 Freestyle Showdown

67th SETTE COLLI TROPHY 

• Friday, June 26th – Sunday, June 28th
• Prelims at 9am local (3am ET)/A-Finals at 7pm local (1pm ET)
• Foro Italico, Rome, Italy
• SwimSwam Preview
• Entry List
• Prelims Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2
• Finals Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2
• Live Results
• Prelims Livestream
• Finals Livestream

We entered the third and final day of action at the 67th Sette Colli Trophy and already we’ve seen multiple records go down, including last night’s World Record stunner by Marrit Steenbergen in the women’s 100m freestyle.

This morning’s prelims were overall on the subdued side, meaning the major players held their cards close to their chest and are waiting to pounce once the medals are on the line during tonight’s main show.

One exception, however, was the women’s 50m freestyle, where American Gretchen Walsh put up a big-time swim of 24.10 to capture the top seed.

23-year-old Walsh holds a slight advantage over Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden, who saw her former World Record of 23.61 in this splash n’ dash get lowered to 23.59 by American Olympic champion Kate Douglass at last week’s Pro Swim Series.

New mom Sjostrom checked in with a super solid outing of 24.24 for the 2nd seed this morning, following up on her 50m fly silver behind Walsh earlier in the competition.

Italian Sara Curtis, the 19-year-old who clocked a new national record of 52.69 in last night’s 100m free, rounded out this morning’s top tier with 24.37, just off her season-best of 24.29 from April’s Italian Championships.

Going back to Walsh, the University of Virginia powerhouse’s effort this morning represents the 4th-best time of her career, one that boasts a lifetime best of 23.78 from earlier this year. That ranks her #2 behind Douglass in the season’s world rankings, with Sjostrom’s morning swim now inserting her into slot #7.

Of note, Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey and Belgium’s Roos Vanotterdijk were no-shows for this splash n’ dash.

The prelims of the men’s 50m butterfly also delivered some head-turning results, with Swiss Olympic medalist Noe Ponti busting out a season-best of 22.81 to lead the pack.

That represents the 8th-best time of his prolific career. Ponti has been as fast as 22.51, the national record he put on the books en route to snagging the silver in the event at the 2025 World Championships. Ponti’s morning swim now ranks him 6th in the world on the season.

Hungarian Olympic champion and 200m fly World Record holder Kristof Milak was right behind Ponti this morning, clocking 23.06 to put his hat in the ring for potential hardware.

Milak’s time was just a hair off his lifetime best, a time of 23.03 nabbed at the Hungarian National Championships in April to rank 15th in the world entering this competition.

Greek national record holder Stergios-Marios Bilas is in the mix, turning in a morning time of 23.30, with Brazilian dynamo Gui Caribe also right there in 23.32.

Additional contenders making the top 8 include Oleg Kostin of Russia, Jere Hribar of Croatia and Luca Armbruster of Germany.

Two women dipped under the 2:10 threshold in this morning’s 200m fly, with Italy’s Paola Borrelli getting it done for the top seed in 2:09.42.

Joining her under the barrier was Danish national record holder Helena Rosendahl Bach who touched in 2:09.91.

21-year-old Borrelli’s lifetime best checks in at the 2:07.47 put up just this past April at the Italian Championships to qualify her for this summer’s European Championships.

American Olympic medalist Alex Walsh staked her claim on the women’s 200m IM as a follow-up to her 400m IM gold during last night’s finals.

24-year-old Walsh stopped the clock this morning at a smooth 2:13.84 as the 2nd-seeded swimmer, sitting behind Irish national record holder Ellen Walshe, who finished a fingernail ahead in 2:13.58.

Italy’s Sara Franceschi lurks as the 3rd seed in 2:14.00, while versatile Steenbergen is also in the mix, courtesy of her morning outing of 2:15.43.

As for Walsh, her lifetime best remains at the big-time 2:07.13 she established on her way to earning gold in the event at the 2022 World Championships. Her stellar career includes following that up with silver in Fukuoka the following year (2:07.97), then topped off with a painstaking disqualification at the 2024 Olympic Games. Prior to the DQ, she was on her way to a personal best of 2:07.06, which would have garnered her the bronze.

After delivering the 2nd-fastest time in the world in the men’s 100m free on his way to gold last night, Romanian Olympic champion David Popovici is seeking to double up with a potential win in the 200m free.

21-year-old Popovici stopped the clock at 1:47.66 to land lane four for tonight’s main event, with British Olympic medalist Jack McMillan set to flank him after a morning swim of 1:47.75.

Lithuania’s Tomas Lukminas will be on Popovici’s other side with a 3rd-seeded 1:47.81.

Additional players in the mix include Italy’s Carlos D’Ambrosio (1:47.88), Marco De Tullio (1:48.28) and 400m free medalist here Alessandro Ragaini.

Lithuanian national record holder Danas Rapsys found himself out of the top 8, relegated to 13th in 1:49.31, while Lorenzo Galossi and Nandor Nemeth did not dive in for their swims this morning.

Additional Notes

• Just five men cleared the 2:00 barrier in this morning’s heats of the 200m back, led by Swiss Olympic medalist Roman Mityukov. The 25-year-old notched an AM effort of 1:58.53 for the comfortable lead over his competitors, with host nation swimmer Dylan Buonaguro the next in line in 1:59.42. Ireland’s World Junior Championships multi-gold medalist John Shortt lurks as the 3rd-seeded athlete in 1:59.68. Mityukov earned a surprise bronze in this 2back at the 2024 Olympic Games, putting up a then-Swiss national record of 1:54.85 in the process. He has since lowered that benchmark to 1:54.83 at last year’s World Championships, where he finished off the podium in 7th (1:55.57).
• 19-year-old Dora Molnar of Hungary, as well as the University of Southern California in the NCAA, posted the top time of the morning in the women’s edition of the 200m back. The teen punched a result of 2:12.88 to keep a pair of Italians at bay. Molnar will be flanked tonight by Aurora Velati, who notched 2:13.33, and Anna Conti, who logged 2:14.61 for the 3rd seed. Molnar owns a personal best of 2:08.53 in this event, a time she established in the prelims of the 2025 World Championships. There in Singapore, the Hungarian ultimately placed 7th overall in a slower mark of 2:09.74.
• The men’s 200m IM prelims were void of any results clearing the 2:00 barrier. Simone Spediacci was the top performer in 2:00.28, with teammate Massimiliano Matteazzi next to the wall in 2:00.64. Hungary’s Gabor Zombori hit 2:01.27 for the 3rd seed and Italy’s national record holder Alberti Razzetti cruised to the 6th slot in 2:02.05.
• Christian Mantegazza led the charge in the men’s 200m breaststroke, although it was a rather pedestrian set of prelims. Mantegazza logged a time of 2:12.28 to hold a narrow advantage over Dutch Olympic medalist Caspar Corbeau, who produced 2:12.39. Turkey’s Kerem Ilyem clinched the 3rd seed in 2:12.69. Of note, Italian Olympic champion in the 100m breast, Nicolo Martinenghi, as well as Dutch Olympic silver medalist Arno Kamminga were both no-shows.
• Olympic medalist Mona McSharry of Ireland was the top women’s 200m breaststroker, hitting a mark of 2:25.32 to lead the field. Fellow Olympic medalist Tes Schouten of the Netherlands was next to the wall in 2:27.19 and Lithuania’s Kotryna Tetervkova will be vying to give her nation its first medal here with a 3rd-seeded 2:27.83. Lisa Angiolini of Italy logged 2:28.04 and there was a tie for 8th between Alex Walsh and Aurora Vetnuri, with both notching 2:29.33.
• Simona Quadarella got it done this morning to claim the top seed in the women’s 400m free. The Olympic medalist produced 4:11.26 to hold a 2+ second advantage ahead of her competitors.