The last day of the 2013 Italian Championships wrapped on Saturday evening in Riccione, and per the Italian qualifying standards, nobody individually hit one of the lofty Italian standards on the final day (despite several swims better than the FINA A-times).
Alex di Giorgio won the men’s 200 free in 1:48.12. For the 22-year old, that’s a few tenths off of his best time, but about six-tenths of a second shy of the Italian standard.
He will, however, get an opportunity to swim the 800 free relay, as there was great depth in this race. The veteran Filippo Magnini was 2nd in 1:48.42, Damiano Lestingi was 3rd in 1:48.48, and Gianluca Maglia was 4th in 1:48.52. That gives them an aggregate time under the mandated 7:14.00 to swim in Barcelona.
In other races, 19-year old Stefania Pirozzi won the 200 IM in a lifetime best of her own: 2:13.71. She was followed in 2nd by 17-year old Carlotta Toni.
In the men’s 200 breaststroke, Luca Pizzini was a 2:11.72 for the win, and Flavio Bizzarri had another very good swim of 2:11.97 for 2nd; that just out-touched Edoardo Girogetti who was 3rd in 2:12.06. Despite those times all ranking in the top 10 in the world this year, none of them will immediately earn spots for Worlds.
Ilaria Bianchi won the women’s 50 free in 25.52, just ahead of runner-up Silvia di Pietro who was 2nd in 25.52. Francesco Pavone won the men’s 200 fly in 1:56.43. That again is a top-5 in the world time, but still not fast enough for Italian qualifying requirements.
And finally, Michela Guzzetti pulled off a bit of an upset in the women’s 100 breaststroke with a 1:08.22, beating 18-year old Lisa Fissneider who was just .01 seconds behind in a 1:08.23.
There will be a lot of focus on the Sette Colli Trophy and the official selection announcement, as the Italians might be fairly lightly represented at the World Championship barring a reprieve from tough standards.
Full, live meet results available here.
PDF of full meet results.
PDF of day 4 results only.
