Martina Carraro Lowers Italian 100 Breast Record by .45 with 1:06.41

Martina Carraro of Blue 91 opened the final day of competition at the 2016 Italian Assoluti National Championships and Olympic Trials in Riccione with a national record in the women’s 100 breast.

After swimming a 1:07.78 in prelims, Carraro came back in finals and went 1:06.41, taking a huge .45 off the previous Italian national record that Ilaria Scarcella had held since 2009. Carraro beat Scarcella (CC Aniene) and Arianna Castiglioni (Yellow Flames / Team Insubrika) in the final by a full 2 seconds, after finished third behind them at last year’s Spring Assoluti National Championships.

Carraro’s swim was all the more remarkable given that her third-place finish in last year’s final was a 1:09.45. Over the last year she has improved both her up-front speed and her closing speed, taking 3.04 seconds off her time.

Carraro also cleared Italy’s Olympic qualifying standard by a huge margin and punched her ticket to Rio. She vaulted into the world’s top ten for the season with her swim.