Sara Curtis Clocks 53.01 100 Free To Take Down Federica Pellegrini’s 2016 Italian Record

2025 ITALIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Riccione – Swimming Stadium Pool
• April 13–17, 2025
• Prelims at 10am local (4am ET)/Senior Finals at 6pm local (12pm ET)
• World Championships Qualification
• SwimSwam Italia Event Page
• Entries
• Day 1 Prelims Recap | Day 2 Prelims Recap | Day 3 Prelims Recap
• Day 1 Finals Live Recap | Day 2 Finals Live Recap | Day 3 Finals Live Recap
• Live Results
• Livestream

During the third finals session of the 2025 Italian Championships, phenom Sara Curtis broke the national record in the women’s 100 freestyle.

The 18-year-old touched in 53.01 to win the event, taking down Federica Pellegrini’s nine-year-old Italian record of 53.18 by 0.17 in the process. Curtis was out fast with a 25.16 opening split before charging home in 27.85.

Curtis’ time also ranks her as the fastest swimmer in the world so far this season, moving ahead of the Netherlands’ Milou Van Wijk, who posted a time of 53.18 in late March.

Current World Rankings:

1. Sara Curtis (ITA) – 53.01 (4/15)*
2. Milou Van Wijk (NED) – 53.18 (3/30)
3. Simone Manuel (USA) – 53.23 (3/6)
4. Marrit Steenbergen (NED) – 53.44 (4/15)
5. Darya Klepikova (RUS) – 53.53 (4/15)

Curtis has been on a tear this week in Riccione. She first broke the 54-second barrier last night with a 53.72 lead-off leg on the 4×100 free relay, then lowered her best again to 53.57 during this morning’s prelims. Altogether, she’s dropped 1.21 seconds off her previous best over the course of the meet and now sits within striking distance of a sub-53 swim.

Earlier in the meet, Curtis lowered her personal best in the 50 backstroke from 27.94 to 27.90, earning gold in that event as well. She narrowly missed the World Championships qualifying standard of 27.79 for Singapore but was comfortably under the World Aquatics ‘A’ cut of 28.22. Given that she obliterated the 53.89 qualifying time in the aforementioned 100 free, she’ll likely earn the opportunity to add the 50 back to her Worlds schedule.

Curtis has been making waves on the junior international scene for a while. She won four medals at the 2022 World Junior Championships in Lima, including individual silver in the 50 free and bronze in the 50 back, and she is a six-time gold medalist at the European Junior Championships, including winning three individual golds this past summer in the 50 free, 100 free and 50 back.

She made her Olympic debut this past summer in Paris, placing 14th in the 50 free and swimming on the Italian women’s 4×100 free relay that finished eighth.

Most recently, Curtis anchored Italy’s gold medal-winning mixed 4×50 freestyle relay at the 2024 Short Course World Championships in Budapest. Curtis closed in 23.34, joining Leonardo Deplano (20.80), Alessandro Miressi (21.01), and Silvia Di Pietro (23.35) on a squad that edged out Canada by 0.10 to claim the title.