The Italian Swimming Federation has released the list of those named for the 2024 World Championships, to be held in Doha, Qatar, Feb. 11-18. The lineup consists of 34 swimmers, including 20 men and 14 women.
Thomas Ceccon, will not compete in Doha. The current men’s 100m backstroke world record holder is recovering from a finger injury that occurred last December.
National team coach Cesare Butini said:
The choice for Thomas was also conditioned by the injury to his finger in the second half of last December, which forced the athlete to slow down his preparation; therefore, we considered it appropriate, sharing the choice with the athlete, the coach and the clubs, both civilian and military, to devote more attention to his complete physical recovery and maintain the determination necessary for the continuation of the season.
At the Fukuoka 2023 World Championships, Italy collected 6 medals. Thomas Ceccon won Italy’s only gold medal, in the men’s 50-meter butterfly with a time of 22.68. Ceccon was also the silver medalist in the 100-meter backstroke (52.27) and anchored the men’s 4×100 freestyle relay team that won silver.
Italy’s other medals were won by Nicolo Martinenghi (men’s 100-meter breaststroke silver), Simona Quadarella (women’s 1500-meter freestyle silver), Benedetta Pilato (women’s 50-meter breaststroke bronze)
The women’s team will not include Margherita Panziera, who has decided to finalize her preparation for the elite championships next March.
MEN’S ROSTER
- Federico Burdisso (Esercito / Aurelia Nuoto)
- Simone Cerasuolo (Fiamme Oro / Imolanuoto)
- Matteo Ciampi (Esercito / Livorno Aquatics)
- Paolo Conte Bonin (Fiamme Oro / Team Veneto)
- Luca De Tullio (Fiamme Oro / CC Aniene)
- Marco De Tullio (CC Aniene)
- Leonardo Deplano (Carabinieri / CC Aniene)
- Stefano Di Cola (Marina Militare / CC Aniene)
- Manuel Frigo (Fiamme Oro / Team Veneto)
- Michele Lamberti (Fiamme Gialle / Gam Brescia)
- Nicolò Martinenghi (CC Aniene)
- Filippo Megli (Carabinieri / RN Florentia)
- Alessandro Miressi (Fiamme Oro / CN Torino)
- Lorenzo Mora (Fiamme Rosse / Amici Nuoto Modena)
- Gregorio Paltrinieri (Fiamme Oro / Coopernuoto)
- Alessandro Ragaini (Carabinieri / Team Marche)
- Alberto Razzetti (Fiamme Gialle / Genova Nuoto My Sport)
- Giammarco Sansone (SC Nuoto Firenze)
- Ludovico BluArt Vibert (CN Torino)
- Lorenzo Zazzeri (Esercito/RN Florentia)
Women’s ROSTER
- Anita Bottazzo (Fiamme Gialle / Imolanuoto)
- Arianna Castiglioni (Fiamme Gialle / Team Insubrika)
- Costanza Cocconcelli (Fiamme Gialle / Azzurra 91)
- Giulia D’Innocenzo (Carabinieri / CC Aniene)
- Francesca Fangio (Esercito / In Sport)
- Sara Franceschi (Fiamme Gialle / Livorno Aquatics)
- Sonia Laquintana (Fiamme Gialle / Azzurra 91)
- Emma Virginia Menicucci (Esercito / CC Aniene)
- Sofia Morini (Esercito / Azzurra 91)
- Francesca Pasquino (In Sport)
- Benedetta Pilato (Fiamme Oro / CC Aniene)
- Simona Quadarella (CC Aniene)
- Giulia Ramatelli (CS Esercito / Aurelia Nuoto)
- Chiara Tarantino (Fiamme Gialle / In Sport)
They will top the medal table
Strong team. Surprisingly so.
Well on the mens side at least, the medley relay is in jeopardy of not qualifying for Paris after they missed the final last summer – despite being the reigning champions.
This might go someway to explaining the depth across the various strokes.
Still, considering there’s no Ceccon we’ll have to be careful since the heats, Lamberti is a solid backstroker and just swam his PB on the 100 with a 53.76, that’s still 2 seconds slower than what you could expect from an in form Thomas, though.
Personally I would have brought Bacico as well, he just turned 18 and went 53.90 at Junior Worlds despite not being at his best for winter nationals (totally understandable since he had to peak both for Eurojunior as well as Junior Worlds then having just 2 months before nationals)
I think all their relays are safe. Top 12 from Japan are close to a lock.