Alessandra Mao Swims 54.28 100 Free To Break Pellegrini’s Age Record

2026 EUROPEAN JUNIOR SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, July 7 – Sunday, July 12, 2026
• Munich, Germany
• LCM (50 meters)
• Psych Sheet
• Live Results
• Recaps
  • Prelims: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5
  • Finals: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5

Italian 15-year-old Alessandra Mao set a new Italian age record in the girls’ 100 freestyle final, stopping the clock in 54.28 to win the gold medal and take 12 hundredths off Federica Pellegrini‘s 2004 record of 54.40.

GIRLS 100 FREESTYLE – FINAL

• World Junior Record: 52.49, Mollie O’Callaghan (AUS), 2022
• European Junior Record: 53.61, Freya Anderson (GBR), 2018
• Championship Record: 53.97, Marrit Steenbergen (NED), 2015
• 2025 European Junior Champion: 54.17, Albane Cachot (FRA)

GOLD – Alessandra Mao (ITA), 54.28
SILVER – Kira Manokhina (NA), 54.37
BRONZE – Emma Wood (GBR), 54.61

Mao’s swim was a massive lifetime best, taking six tenths off the 54.84 mark she swam to finish 6th at the World Junior Championships last summer.

She split 26.51/27.77 to become the 7th-fastest Italian woman in history in the event, winning the European Junior title by a tenth over Neutral athlete Kira Manokhina‘s 54.37.

Her swim took more than a tenth off Italian legend Federica Pellegrini‘s 2004 record time of 54.40. When Pellegrini set the record on March 10th, 2004, she was also 15, turning 16 just a few months later in August. At the time, the swim was the Italian record in the event. It was also almost exactly seven years before Mao was born on March 7th, 2011.

Mao already owns the Juniores record in the girls’ 200 freestyle with the 1:57.00 she swam at the World Junior Championships, which is also the Cadetti (the last age group before senior) record in the event.

She now sits just six hundredths behind the Cadetti record of 54.22, set by Sara Curtis in 2024.

Updated Top 10 Italians All-Time

1. Sara Curtis — 52.69 (2026)
2. Federica Pellegrini — 53.18 (2016)
3. Emma Virginia Menicucci — 53.75 (2026)
4. Sofia Morini — 53.92 (2024)
5. Chiara Tarantino — 54.05 (2024)
6. Silvia Pietro — 54.11 (2017)
7. Alessandra Mao — 54.28 (2026)
8. Erika Ferraioli — 54.30 (2014)
9. Costanza Cocconcelli — 54.61 (2023)
10. Cristiana Stevanato — 54.67 (2026)

Mao has been strong in the event this meet, splitting 53.58 on the anchor leg of Italy’s winning 4×100 mixed medley relay.