2026 Italian Swimming Championships

• Tuesday, April 14th – Saturday, April 18th
• Prelims at 10am local (4am ET)/Finals at 6pm local (Noon ET) *Friday finals start at 5:15pm local (11:15am ET)
• Riccione, Italy
• LCM (50m)
• 2026 European Championship Selection Criteria
• Entry List
• SwimSwam Italia Preview
• Live Results
• Livestream
• Recaps
  • Prelims: Day 1 | Day 2
  • Finals: Day 1 | Day 3

Sara Curtis set her second Italian record of the week, as she blasted a time of 24.29 to dominate the women’s 50 free prelims at the Italian Championships this morning.

That slices 0.12 seconds off her former record of 24.41, which she set in the heats at the World Championships last summer. She placed 9th in the semi-finals in a slightly slower time of 24.48.

She won silver at the European Short Course Championships in the 50 free this past December, touching just 0.02 off the Italian record in a time of 23.41. She also added a bronze in the 100 free in 51.26, as well as a gold in the 50 back in 25.49, which was a European record at the time.

Her other record this week was also in the 50 back, as she sliced 0.06 seconds off Silvia Scalia‘s mark of 27.39 to take the win in 27.33. That ranked her 3rd in the world so far this season, behind only the U.S. pair of Katherine Berkoff and Regan Smith.

Curtis has just finished up her freshman season at the University of Virginia, who she helped to a sixth consecutive NCAA title as she became the fastest freshman in history in both the 50 free and 100 free. She clocked 53.40 in the latter event yesterday, 0.39 seconds off the Italian record of 53.01 she set at this meet last year.

Her swim tonight ranks her 4th in the world this season, pushing Sarah Sjoestrom‘s 24.36 from last week out of the top five.

She moves up 12 spots in the all-time rankings, moving from 47th to 35th. She is the fastest European woman in the event so far this season, and will be one of the favorites in the event at the European Championships in Paris this summer.