Noe Ponti And Kristof Milak Headed For 100 Fly Showdown On Day One Of Sette Colli

67th SETTE COLLI TROPHY 

• Friday, June 26th – Sunday, June 28th
• Prelims at 9am local (3am ET)/A-Finals at 7pm local (1pm ET)
• Foro Italico, Rome, Italy
• SwimSwam Preview
• Entry List
• Live Results
• Prelims Livestream

The 2026 Sette Colli Trophy kicked off today from Rome, Italy with some of the world’s best athletes taking to the Foro Italico pool.

There is no shortage of talent on both the women’s and men’s side, as the fields contain Olympic, World, and European Championships medalists across the board.

The men’s 100m butterfly heats was representative of the high-caliber arsenal, with Swiss ace Noe Ponti and Hungarian dynamo Kristof Milak battling for the top seed.

The pair registered the two sub-51-second results of the pack, with Ponti hitting 50.59 to Milak’s 50.98. Italian Michele Busa was the next-fastest swimmer in 51.71.

While 26-year-old Milak has already been as quick as 50.22 this season to rank #1 in the world, Ponti’s effort checked in as a new season-best. The Swiss Olympic medalist and 2025 World Championships silver medalist now ranks 5th in the world with the main event yet to come this evening.

Of note, Thomas Ceccon, the reigning 100m back World Record holder, fell to 26th place in 53.60 this morning.

Competing as a neutral athlete, Russia’s Ivan Kozhakin proved too quick to catch in the morning heats of the men’s 50m breaststroke.

Kozhakin stopped the clock at a mark of 26.52, producing the 2nd-best time of his career in the process. Only his PB of 26.46 has been faster, a time he put on the books at last year’s Russian National Championships.

Italy’s Ludovico Blu Art Viberti was next to the wall in 26.69, followed by Belarus’ Ilya Shymanovich who claimed the 3rd seed in 26.82.

Also in the mix for tonight’s medal-contending contest include Simone Cerasuolo of Italy (26.84), teammate and Olympic champion Nicolo Martinenghi (27.02) and Dutch Olympic medalist Caspar Corbeau (27.12).

Notable men relegated to the B-final include Adam Peaty (GBR), Arno Kamminga (NED), Oleg Kostin (RUS), Melvin Imoudu (GER) and Federico Poggio (ITA).

Finally on the men’s side, Brazil’s speedster Gui Caribe crushed a super solid morning result of 21.77 to lead the 50m freestyle event.

He produced one of three sub-22-second swims, with Croatian Jerre Hribar and Romanian David Popovici joining him under the barrier, tying in a mark of 21.92.

These top three men were all within striking distance of their lifetime bests as they battled for the pole position.

Caribe’s PB sits at the 21.46 produced at last year’s Maria Lenk Trophy, while Hribar’s lifetime best is represented by the 21.79 also logged in 2025. Popovici’s best-ever time of 21.83, the reigning Romanian national record, was established at the 2025 Romanian Nationals.

In addition to the women’s events highlighted below, the 100m breast was among their list of races to kick off this competition.

Irish national record holder and Olympic medalist Mona McSharry staked her claim on the race with a morning effort of 1:06.53 as one of three sub-1:07 performers.

Italy’s own Lisa Angiolini captured the 2nd seed in 1:06.91 and Benedetta Pilato was right there as well in 1:06.96.

Olympic medalists Tes Schouten of the Netherlands hit 1:07.06 and Yuliya Efimova turned in 1:08.07 to also make the A-Final for tonight’s lineup.

Additional Notes

• The men’s 50m backstroke saw Greek Olympic medalist Apostolos Christou nab the top spot, hitting a morning time of 25.08. That will pit him against domestic swimmer Francesco Lazzari who notched 25.15 for the 2nd seed and Hungary’s Adam Jaszo who will flank him on the other side in 25.28. Christou’s season-best checks in at the speedy 24.46 put up at the Acropolis Open in May to rank 10th in the world at the moment. Of note, the #1 50m backstroker right now, Kliment Kolesnikov, was not entered in this event. The 100m backstroke World Record holder Ceccon of Italy was entered but did not swim it.
• We reported how 19-year-old Sara Curtis of the host nation ripped a new Italian record of 27.23 en route to capturing the top seed in the 50m back. After an initial disqualification, the University of Virginia swimmer’s result was ratified, giving her a big edge over the rest of the field. You can read more about Curtis’ outing here.
• New mom Sarah Sjostrom dove in for the heats of the women’s 50m fly, making her return to the event for the first time since giving birth to son Adrian last August. The speedster wasted no time making her presence known, logging a super swift morning outing of 25.31 to claim the 2nd seed behind another World Record holder, Gretchen Walsh of the United States. 23-year-old Walsh ripped a head-turning morning result of 24.91 to lead the pack and register the #1 time of the field en route to landing lane four for tonight’s final. You can read more about this high-octane event here.
• The women’s 200m free was on the subdued side, with just a handful of swimmers clearing the 2:00 barrier. Multi-Olympic medalist Siobhan Haughey of Hong Kong led the way with a morning effort of 1:58.64. That holds nearly a second advantage over American Olympic medalist Alex Walsh who checked in at 1:59.44 for the 6th seed, while Italian Alessandra Mao, just 15 years of age, earned the 8th position in 1:59.60. As a 14-year-old last year, Mao earned the bronze in this event at the World Junior Championships, hitting a time of 1:57.00 for a new personal best. Marrit Steenbergen was denied a spot in the A-final, finishing 12th in 2:00.33. Italians Anna Mascolo (1:58.92, 2nd seed) and Giulia D’Innocenzo (1:59.10, 3rd seed) are chasing European Championships qualification.
• It was a tale of two De Tullios in the men’s 400m free prelims, with Italians Marco De Tullio and Luca De Tullio securing the top two spots in the event. The former logged 3:48.24 as the sole swimmer to delve under the 3:50 threshold, with the latter notching 3:50.30 for the 2nd seed. Alessandro Ragaini is very much in the mix as the 3rd-seeded athlete in 3:50.74. Additional contenders include Brazil’s Guilherme Costa (3:51.56), Great Britain’s Jack McMillan (3:53.08) and Italy’s Gabriele Detti (3:52.99). Irish Olympic champion Daniel Wiffen‘s time of 3:54.25 relegated him to the B-Final for tonight’s agenda.