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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.
Italian youngster Sofia Napoli set a significant best time in the 400 IM last weekend in the long course pool after a record-setting short course swim in December.
Napoli, 15, set a new Italian Junior Record (16 & under) in the SCM 400 IM at the Italian Championships in December, clocking 4:36.94 to erase Ilaria Cusinato‘s decade-old mark of 4:37.64 set in 2015.
At last weekend’s Geneva Challenge in Switzerland, Napoli followed up her SCM record with back-to-back LCM best times in the event. She first clocked 4:55.35 in the prelims, lowering her best time of 4:56.03 set last August, and then in the final, she got down to 4:53.13 to knock two more seconds off her PB and place 3rd in the final.
Split Comparison
| Napoli, August 2025 | Napoli, 2026 Geneva Prelims | Napoli, 2026 Geneva Final |
| 1:07.84 | 1:06.82 | 1:06.33 |
| 2:24.21 (1:16.37) | 2:24.39 (1:17.57) | 2:22.66 (1:16.33) |
| 3:49.92 (1:25.71) | 3:49.22 (1:24.83) | 3:46.83 (1:24.17) |
| 4:56.03 (1:06.11) | 4:55.35 (1:06.13) | 4:53.13 (1:06.30) |
The performance ranks Napoli 8th all-time among 15 and under Italian girls. Cusinato owns the top time at 4:48.92, set in 2014.
In Geneva, Napoli also raced the 100 free (58.45), 200 free (2:03.82), 400 free (4:27.14) and 200 IM (2:20.37).
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