Dolfin Swim of the Week: Paltrinieri’s 14:33 In 1500… Duh

Disclaimer: Dolfin 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  Dolfin Swim 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.

It’s been a sparse summer of racing amid the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, and though the overall results have still shown remarkable improvements at lower levels, truly historic elite-level swims have been few and far between.

This week, one such swim clearly stood out.

Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri smashed a 14:33.10 to win the 1500 free at the Sette Colli Trophy. That is the second-best swim in history in the event, trailing only the 2012 world record set by China’s Sun Yang.

All-Time Top 10 Performances, Men’s 1500m Freestyle

1. Sun Yang, China – 14:31.02 (2012)
2. Gregorio Paltrinieri, Italy – 14:33.10 (2020)
3. Gregorio Paltrinieri, Italy – 14:34.04 (2016)
4. Sun Yang, China – 14:34.14 (2011)
5. Grant Hackett, Australia – 14:34.56 (2001)
6. Gregorio Paltrinieri, Italy – 14:34.57 (2016)
7. Sun Yang, China – 14:35.43 (2010)
8. Gregorio Paltrinieri, Italy – 14:35.85 (2017)
9. Florian Wellbrock, Germany – 14:36.15 (2018)
10. Florian Wellbrock, Germany – 14:36.54 (2019)

All-Time Top 10 Performers, Men’s 1500m Freestyle

1. Sun Yang, China – 14:31.02
2. Gregorio Paltrinieri, Italy – 14:33.10
3. Grant Hackett, Australia – 14:34.56
4. Florian Wellbrock, Germany – 14:36.15
5. Mykhailo Romanchuk, Ukraine – 14:36.88
6. Ous Mellouli, Tunisia – 14:37.28
7. Connor Jaeger, USA – 14:39.48
8. Mack Horton, Australia – 14:39.54
9. Ryan Cochrane, Canada – 14:39.63
10. Gabriele Detti, Italy – 14:40.86

It’s a personal-best for Paltrinieri, breaking through with a 1500 free best for the first time since 2016. Paltrinieri is the defending Olympic champ, with the Olympic champ before him (Sun) currently out on an 8-year ban.

Paltrinieri will turn 26 next month and will have a chance to defend his Olympic gold next summer, provided the pandemic improves by then.

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