Chiara Della Corte Rips 200 IM Lifetime Best To Close Out 2024 Italian SC Championships

2024 ITALIAN SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Thursday, November 14th – Saturday, November 16th
• Riccione, Italy
• SCM (25m)
• Entries
• SwimSwam Preview
• SwimSwam Italy Coverage
• Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap
• Live Results

The final day of the 2024 Italian Short Course Championships unfolded from Riccione with swimmers vying for a last-chance opportunity to qualify for next month’s Short Course World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

We reported how 18-year-old Sara Curtis set the tone early, clocking a new national record in the women’s 50m freestyle.

Curtis’ new lifetime best of 23.77 qualified her for Budapest and she now owns both the SCM and LCM Italian records in the event.

Making some noise in the men’s 200m back was Lorenzo Mora, with the 26-year-old adding the event to his potential Budapest lineup.

Mora touched in a time of 1:49.95 to beat the field decisively, dipping under the 1:50.5 qualification time needed for SC Worlds in the process.

Matteo Brunella was over 2 seconds back in 1:52.o7 as the silver medalist while Christian Bacico rounded out the podium in 1:52.61.

Mora is the reigning Italian national record-holder in this event, courtesy of the 1:48.43 he put on the books en route to becoming the 2023 European Short Course Championships gold medalist.

Although the men of the 200m breaststroke final tonight missed Budapest qualification, they did make some moves on the all-time Italian performers’ list.

Alessandro Fusco was first to the wall in 2:04.69, eking out the victory ahead of Gabriele Mancini who got there just .19 behind in 2:04.88. Alessandro Pinzuti bagged the bronze this evening in 2:05.17.

For their efforts, Fusco now ranks as the 4th-best Italian man in history while Pinzuit inserts himself in the #7 slot. Mancini was already on the list at #3.

Italian Top 10 Men’s SCM 100 Breaststroke Performers All-Time

1. Edward Giorgetti – 2’03.80
2. Nicholas Martinenghi  – 2’03.98
3. Gabriel Mancini – 2’04.77
4. Alessandro Fusco – 2’04.69 (today)
5. Luca Pizzini – 2’05.57
6. Paul Bossini – 2’05.82
7. Alessandro Pinzuti – 2’05.17 (today)
8. Claudio Fossi – 2’05.90
9. Stefano Saladini – 2’06.07
10. Andrea Castello – 2’06.32

Chiara Della Corte made the most of her racing opportunity, topping the women’s 200m IM podium in a big-time personal best of 2:07.34.

Della Corte was one of just two swimmers to clear the 2:10 barrier, with Anita Gastaldi joining her in 2:09.26. Anna Pirovano was the bronze medalist this evening in 2:10.89.

As for 19-year-old Della Corte, her previous personal best entering this competition rested at the 2:13.54 produced at last year’s edition of these championships.

That means she hacked off nearly 6 seconds en route to grabbing the gold tonight. Additionally, her result cleared the 2:07.5 needed to notch her name on the provisional roster for next month’s Short Course World Championships.

Additionally, Della Corte now ranks as the 5th-fastest Italian women’s 200m IM performer of all time.

Top 5 Italian Women’s SCM 200 IM Performers All-Time

1. Ilaria Cusinato – 2:06.17, 2018
2. Francesca Segat – 2:06.21, 2009
3. Costanza Cocconcelli – 2:07.12, 2012
4. Sara Franceschi – 2:07.25, 2022
5. Chiara Della Corte – 2:07.34, 2024

Additional Notes

• Giulia D’Innocenzo earned the national title in the women’s 200m back, producing an effort of 2:05.70. Although that grabbed the gold, her outing fell short of the 2:03.9 needed for Budapest. Erika Francesca Gaetani was the silver medalist in 2:07.04 while Francesca Fresia also landed on the podium in 2:07.13 for bronze. of note, Martina Cenci, winner of the B-Final in 2:07.43, would have placed 5th overall.
• Michele Busa came oh-so-close to making the grade in the men’s 50m fly. The 23-year-old earned a time of 23.44 in the morning followed by a final outing of 22.50 to grab the gold, both results falling short of the 22.3 needed for Budapest.
• The women’s 200m fly was also void of any qualifiers, as Paola Borrelli‘s winning time of 2:07.74 was over 2 seconds outside the QT of 2:05.5.
• Francesca Fangio delivered a swim of 2:20.81 to top the podium in the women’s 200m breast. However, she needed 2:19.2 to get the job done for a Budapest qualification.
• Carlos D’Ambrosio hit a time of 1:43.66 to lead the men’s 200m free field, dipping under the 1:44 barrier alone. Alberto Razzetti logged 1:44.05 as the runner-up and Filippo Megli rounded out the podium in 1:44.28. A minimum of 1:42.5 was needed for next month’s SC Worlds. Of note, the B-Final victor, Alessandro Ragaini, posted a time of 1:44.17 which would have earned bronze in the A-final.
• Lorenzo Glessi stopped the clock at 1:54.14 to lead the men’s 200m IM, although a mark of 1:53.3 was needed for Budapest.
• Olympic medalist Simona Quadarella made her presence known in the women’s 400m free, turning in a time of 4:02.29 to beat the field by over 3 seconds.
• The men’s 1500m free saw Matteo Diodato hit a time of 14:36.74 to earn the gold medal.