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by Retta Race 48

June 27th, 2026 Asia, Britain, Europe, International, News, Previews & Recaps, Records

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
Live Results
Prelims Livestream
Finals Livestream

We have some potentially explosive finals on the agenda for this evening, day two of the 2026 Sette Colli Trophy, taking place in Rome, Italy.

This morning, American Gretchen Walsh claimed two top seeds, hitting a time of 55.47 for a new meet record in the 100m fly, and posting 53.38 for a new season-best in the 100m free.

She’ll be challenged by the likes of Roos Vanotterdijk of Belgium and Angelina Köhler of Germany in the former, while on-fire Dutch Olympian Marrit Steenbergen and Hong Kong multi-Olympic medalist Siobhan Haughey of Hong Kong will be chasing Walsh in the latter sprint.

Sara Curtis, last night’s 50m back European Record-setting athlete, will also be putting her hat in the ring for possible 100m free hardware.

Italian national record holder Nicolo Martinenghi will seek gold in the men’s 100m breaststroke after missing the podium last night in the 50m.

His counterpart Benedetta Pilato will be the one to beat in the women’s 50m breaststroke, although countrywoman Lisa Angiolini doesn’t sit very far behind.

Federico Burdisso, 2020 Olympic bronze medalist of the host country, will be vying for gold in the 200m fly, while Greek Olympic medalist Apostolos Christou will be seeking the same potential podium-topping performance in the 100m back.

Add in the men’s and women’s 400m IM final and the fastest heats of their respective 800m free and tonight’s lineup is must-watch from start to finish.

WOMEN’S 100 FLY – FINAL

World Record – 54.33, Gretchen Walsh (USA), 2026
World Junior Record – 56.43, Clair Curzan (USA), 2021
European Record – 55.48, Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), 2016
European Junior Record – 56.46 Benchmark
Italian Record – 57.04, Elenna Di Liddo, 2019
~~Meet Record – 55.47, Gretchen Walsh, 2026~~

GOLD – Gretchen Walsh (USA), 54.82 *Meet Record
SILVER – Roos Vanotterdijk (BEL), 57.24
BRONZE – Anna Ntountounaki (GRE), 57.79

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new meet record to kick off tonight’s events, with 23-year-old World Record holder Gretchen Walsh throwing down a big-time swim of 54.82 to easily take the gold.

She already established a meet record out of the morning heats, courtesy of the 55.47, which overtook Sarah Sjostrom‘s former benchmark of 56.04 from 2015.

Tonight, Walsh opened in 25.26 and closed in 29.56 to get to the wall well over two seconds ahead of the pack.

Belgium’s versatile national record holder Roos Vanotterdijk produced 57.24 as the silver medalist, followed by Greece’s Anna Ntountounaki, who hit 57.79, good enough for bronze.

Vanotterdijk owns the Belgian standard at the PB of 55.84 logged at the 2025 World Championships for the silver medal. Ntountounaki’s Greek standard stands at the 57.25 notched at the 2020 Olympic Games.

Walsh is the current World Record holder in the 100m fly, with her lifetime best of 54.33 just a springboard for the woman who says she wants to break the 54-second barrier.

Tonight’s performance represents the 5th-fastest time of Walsh’s already-incredible career and the 5th-fastest performance of all time. She remains the only woman to ever clear the 55-second barrier in the event.

American Gretchen Walsh‘s Top 5 Performances in LCM 100 Butterfly

54.33, 2026 *WR*
54.60, 2025
54.73, 2025
54.76, 2025
54.82, 2026

MEN’S 200 FLY – FINAL

World Record – 1:50.34, Kristof Milak (HUN), 2022
World Junior Record – 1:53.79, Kristof Milak (HUN), 2017
European Record – 1:50.34, Kristof Milak (HUN), 2022
European Junior Record – 1:52.71, Kristof Milak (HUN), 2018
Italian Record – 1:54.28, Federico Burdisso, 2021
Meet Record – 1:53.18, Kristof Milak (HUN), 2021

GOLD – Federico Burdisso (ITA), 1:55.10
SILVER – Richard Marton (HUN), 1:55.51
BRONZE – Noe Ponti (SUI), 1:56.10

The host nation earned its first medal of the evening, courtesy of 24-year-old Olympic bronze medalist Federico Burdisso in the men’s 200m fly.

Burdisso punched a result of 1:55.10, tightening up at the end, but still hanging on strong enough to keep a charging Hungarian in Richard Marton at bay.

26-year-old Marton settled for silver less than half a second back in 1:55.51, for the 6th-swiftest time of his career, with Swiss superstar and Olympic medalist Noe Ponti rounding out the podium in 1:56.10.

Burdisso’s time checks in as a new season-best, ranking him 17th in the world at the moment. It also represents the 10th-swiftest performance of his career enough to qualify him for the European Championships.

A one-time swimmer for Northwestern in the NCAA, Burdisso broke through with a bronze in this 200m fly event at the 2020 Olympic Games (1:54.45).

Since that time, however, the Italian has been mostly quiet on the individual event side, save for a men’s medley relay bronze at the 2024 World Championships. His times this morning and this evening beat his former season-best of 1:57.26 from the Lausanne Swim Cup, hopefully giving Burdisso fans some positivity that he’s trending in the right direction with the European Championships on the horizon.

WOMEN’S 100 BACK – FINAL

World Record – 57.13, Regan Smith (USA), 2024
World Junior Record – 57.57, Regan Smith (USA), 2019
European Record – 58.08, Kathleen Dawson (GBR), 2021
European Junior Record – 59.08, Anastasia Shkurdai (BLR), 2020
Italian Record – 58.92, Margherita Panziera, 2019
Meet Record – 59.23, Kira Toussaint (NED), 2021

GOLD – Martina Biasioli (ITA), 1:00.77
SILVER – Federica Toma (ITA), 1:00.84
BRONZE – Anita Gastaldi (ITA), 1:00.98

The women’s 100m back final was on the subdued side, with no contender dipping under the 1:00 barrier in tonight’s final.

Martina Biasioli led an Italian sweep of the podium, with the 22-year-old posting 1:00.77 to continue her momentum from grabbing the top seed out of the morning heats.

Teammate Federica Toma reached the wall next, just .07 behind in 1:00.84, with Anita Gastaldi also right there in the mix with a bronze medal-worthy outing of 1:00.98.

The women were chasing a selection standard of 1:00.29 in order to qualify for the Italian roster for this summer’s European Championships, so the top 3 all fell short of that feat.

MEN’S 100 BACK – FINAL

World Record – 51.60, Thomas Ceccon (ITA), 2022
World Junior Record – 52.08, Miron Lifintsev (RUS), 2024
European Record – 51.60, Thomas Ceccon (ITA), 2022
European Junior Record – 52.08, Miron Lifintsev (RUS), 2024
Italian Record – 51.60, Thomas Ceccon, 2022
Meet Record – 52.43, Thomas Ceccon (ITA), 2024

GOLD – Apostolos Christou (GRE), 52.47
SILVER – Adam Jaszo (HUN), 53.70
BRONZE – Francesco Lazzari (ITA), 53.91

29-year-old Olympic medalist Apostolos Christou of Greece put his talent on display in a big way in the mens’ 100m backstroke, crushing a swift effort of 52.47 to handily defeat his competitors this evening.

Christou opened in 25.36 and closed in 27.11 to beat the pack by well over a second, with Hungarian Adam Jaszo checking in as the next-closesst swimmer in 53.70.

Italy bagged the bronze, courtesy of Francesco Lazzari‘s swim of 53.91.

For Christou’s part, his outing here was within striking distance of his best-ever and Greek national record of 52.09 notched nearly 4 years ago at the 2022 World Championships. In fact, the Greek’s performance her represents the 7th-quickest of his career to rank 4th in the world this season.

2025-2026 LCM Men 100 BACK

Xu CHN
Jiayu

11/12
52.39

2	Pieter COETZE	RSA	52.40	04/14
3	Oliver MORGAN	GBR	52.41	04/16
4	Apostolos CHRISTOU	GRE	52.47	06/27
5	Kliment KOLESNIKOV	RUS	52.51	06/10

View Top 26»

WOMEN’S 400 IM – FINAL

World Record – 4:23.65, Summer McIntosh (CAN), 2025
World Junior Record – 4:24.38, Summer McIntosh (CAN), 2024
European Record – 4:26.36, Katinka Hosszu (HUN), 2016
European Junior Record – 4:34.96, Vivien Jackl (HUN), 2024
Italian Record – 4:34.34, Alessia Filippi, 2008
Meet Record – 4:34.65, Ilaria Cusinato (ITA), 2018

GOLD – Alex Walsh (USA), 4:35.25
SILVER – Ellen Walshe (IRL), 4:37.20
BRONZE – Anna Pirovano (ITA), 4:39.38

Alex Walsh of the United States put on a powerful show in the women’s 400m IM, notching a big-time swim of 4:35.25 to grab the gold.

She came within a second of the longstanding meet record of 4:34.65 that Italy’s Ilaria Cusinato established in 2018 and tonight’s effort represents Olympic medalist Walsh’s 2nd-fastest time ever.

Walsh’s personal best remains at the 4:34.46 notched at the 2023 World Championships, so the University of Virginia talent was less than a second off that PB.

Ireland’s reigning national record holder Ellen Walshe came into the wall next in 4:37.20, with Italy’s Anna Pirovano also landing on the podium in 4:39.38, good enough for bronze.

MEN’S 400 IM – FINAL

World Record – 4:02.50, Leon Marchand (FRA), 2023
World Junior Record – 4:08.84, Yumeki Kojima (JPN), 2026
European Record – 4:02.50, Leon Marchand (FRA), 2023
European Junior Record – 4:10.02, Ilya Borodin (RUS), 2021
Italian Record – 4:09.29, Alberto razzetti, 2023
Meet Record – 4:07.47, David Verraszto (HUN), 2017

GOLD – Alberto Razzetti (ITA), 4:13.37
SILVER – Gabor Zombori (HUN), 4:14.55
BRONZE – Emanuele Potenza (ITA), 4:16.36

Nothing too crazy happened in the men’s edition of the 400m IM final, with no competitor clearing the 4:10 barrier.

Domestic ace and national record holder Alberto Razzetti grabbed the gold in 4:13.37, with Hungarian Gabor Zombori downgraded from being the top seed to now silver medalist in 4:14.55.

Razzetti’s countryman Emanuele Potenza earned 3rd place in 4:16.36.