Italian Simona Quadarella Crushes Decade-Old National Record in 1500 Win

2019 FINA WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

• All sports: Friday, July 12 – Sunday, July 28, 2019
• Pool swimming: Sunday, July 21 – Sunday, July 28, 2019
• The Nambu University Municipal Aquatics Center, Gwangju, Korea
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In the absence of Katie Ledecky Tuesday night in Gwangju, Italian Simona Quadarella cruised to a commanding 1500m free win, hitting a new Italian record along the way.

Quadarella dropped eight seconds off her previous of 15:48.84 to go 15:40.89. She also finished eight seconds ahead of the next-fastest swimmer, German Sarah Kohler, who set a new national record at 15:48.83. China’s Wang Jianjiahe finished third in 15:51.00.

Take a look at Quadarella’s full splits:

Alessia Filippi owned the previous Italian record at 15:44.93, from the 2009 World Championships.

This swim caps a banner season for the 20-year-old Quadarella. Her previous PR was just swum at the 2019 Sette Colli Trophy in late June, and was a six-second improvement on her best time before that meet. She ranked No. 3 in the world heading into this week, and is now the second-fastest performer since Ledecky in Rio. Quadarella’s time Tuesday also puts her atop the world this season, as Ledecky’s season-best was 15.45.59, from January, before she had to pull out of this meet due to sickness.