Matteo Rivolta has been having an outstanding weekend for Italy at the European Short Course Championships in Netanya, Israel. Rivolta has already broken Italy’s 100 butterfly record on his way to a silver medal.
This morning he set his sights on the 50 fly record, punching the wall in 22.83. It was actually the second time Rivolta swam under the old record of 23.25 by Paolo Facchinelli in the meet. In the 100 butterfly final, he swam the first 50 in 22.99 in a valiant effort to sprint out past Laszlo Cseh.
Rivolta has been on fire all year, he started his record breaking streak at the Italian Spring Championship and has carried it forward to the end. That kind of improvement curve is a little unusual for a 24 year old swimmer, but Rivolta is proving that he still has good potential going forward.
Rivolta’s best meet prior to this was the 2012 European Championships in Debrecen, proving that he has long course chops as well. If he stays hot, expect to see him in Rio next summer.
