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Disclaimer: Swim of the Week is not meant to be a conclusive selection of the best overall swim of the week, but rather one Featured Swim to be explored in deeper detail. The Swim of the Week is an opportunity to take a closer look at the context of one of the many fast swims this week, perhaps a swim that slipped through the cracks as others grabbed the headlines, or a race we didn’t get to examine as closely in the flood of weekly meets.
Ludovico Viberti unleashed a massive swim racing in front of his home crowd on Friday morning at the Settecolli Trophy in Rome, setting a new Italian Record in the men’s 50 breaststroke.
Viberti dropped a time of 26.27 in the 50 breast prelims, breaking the Italian National Record of 26.33 set by Nicolo Martinenghi in 2022 and moving into #3 all-time in the event.
Viberti, 23, knocked more than half a second off his previous best time of 26.80, which he set in May 2024 at the Canet leg of the Mare Nostrum Tour and then matched it the following month at the 2024 Settecolli Trophy.
All-Time Performers, Men’s 50 Breaststroke (LCM)
- Adam Peaty (GBR), 25.95 – 2017 World Championships
- Qin Haiyang (CHN), 26.20 – 2023 World Championships
- Ludovico Viberti (ITA), 26.27 – 2025 Settecolli Trophy
- Ilya Shymanovich (BLR), 26.28 – 2023 Belarusian Nationals
- Sam Williamson (AUS), 26.32 – 2024 World Championships
Viberti also broke Adam Peaty‘s Settecolli meet record of 26.41, set in 2018, and moves past Ilya Shymanovich (26.37) for the top spot in the 2024-25 world rankings.
2024-2025 LCM Men 50 Breast
VIBERTI
26.27
| 2 | Ilya SHYMANOVICH | BLR | 26.37 | 04/20 |
| 3 | Ivan Kozhakin | RUS | 26.49 | 04/17 |
| 4 | Qin Haiyang | CHN | 26.54 | 05/19 |
| 5 | Simone CERASUOLO | ITA | 26.59 | 04/17 |
“This record represents an enormous satisfaction, as well as the crowning of a lot of work,” Viberti said, according to the Italian Swimming Federation.
“I think I deserve it and I think I have further improvement. I love swimming, to which I dedicate almost my entire life. Going to the World Championships was a goal, but it is not a point of arrival: the goal is to always go fast”.
Viberti will be vying for the 50/100 breast double in tonight’s final, having won the 100 breast on Thursday in a time of 59.06, just two one-hundredths shy of his lifetime best 59.04 set in April.
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