2023 NICO SAPIO TROPHY
- Friday, November 10th – Sunday, November 12th
- Complesso Polisportivo Sciorba
- SCM (25m)
- SwimSwam Preview
- Entries
- Results (Live)
The 2023 Nico Sapio Trophy kicked off today from Genoa with the meet representing a veritable ‘who’s who’ of Italian swimming. The 3-day competition offers another opportunity for swimmers to qualify for this year’s European Short Course Championships slated for Romania next month.
As a refresher, at the bottom of this post are the minimum time standards needed to be achieved by Italian swimmers to make the squad. However, a solid contingent of athletes have already been pre-qualified for Romania due to performances achieved earlier in the season. That list is also presented below.
One of those athletes pre-qualified is World Record holder Thomas Ceccon. 22-year-old Ceccon took on the men’s 200m IM to kick off his campaign and did so in style. His winning effort of 1:51.90 grabbed the gold and established a new lifetime best for the versatile ace.
Entering this competition, Ceccon’s fastest 2IM rested at the 1:52.49 he logged for silver at the 2021 edition of the European Short Course Championships. That means he knocked over half a second off of that previous result and Ceccon also came within half a second of Alberto Razzetti‘s national record of 1:51.54 established at the 2021 World Championships.
Ceccon now ranks #1 in the world in this event and his 1:51.90 also scores a new meet record.
2023-2024 SCM Men 200 IM
SCOTT
1:50.98
| 2 | Thomas CECCON | ITA | 1:51.90 | 11/10 |
| 3 | Alexey SUDAREV | RUS | 1:52.13 | 12/18 |
| 4 | Ilya Borodin | RUS | 1:53.09 | 11/20 |
| 4 | Alberto RAZZETTI | ITA | 1:53.09 | 12/08 |
Also establishing a new #1 time in the world was Ilaria Cusinato en route to her victory in the women’s 200m fly.
24-year-old Cusinato clocked a time of 2:06.19 to represent one of two swimmers under 2:07 in tonight’s final. Joining her was Alessia Polieri who touched in 2:06.76 while Antonella Crispino also landed on the podium in 2:08.64 as the bronze medalist.
Although Cusinato dethroned Australia’s Bella Grant to wear the world rankings crown, her time fell short of the 2:05 needed for Romania.
2023-2024 SCM Women 200 Fly
Kohler
2:03.30
| 2 | Helena Rosendahl BACH | DEN | 2:03.86 | 12/07 |
| 3 | Lana PUDAR | BIH | 2:04.55 | 12/07 |
| 4 | Hiroko MAKINO | JPN | 2:05.21 | 01/06 |
| 5 | Laura Lahtinen | FIN | 2:05.26 | 12/07 |
World Championships multi-medalist Benedetta Pilato was also in the water tonight doing her thing in the women’s 50m breast. The 18-year-old roared to the wall in a mark of 29.43, but she wasn’t alone in sub-30-second territory.
Just nipping the barrier was Martina Carraro who claimed silver in 29.98. Both women are already pre-qualified for Romania and now place #2 and #5, respectively, in the season’s world rankings.
2023-2024 SCM Women 50 Breast
PILATO
28.86
| 2 | Eneli JEFIMOVA | EST | 29.10 | 12/09 |
| 3 | Imogen CLARK | GBR | 29.17 | 12/17 |
| 4 | Jasmine NOCENTINI | ITA | 29.31 | 12/09 |
| 5 | Dominika SZTANDERA | POL | 29.40 | 10/27 |
Additional Notes
- Pre-qualified Olympic medalist Simona Quadarella got her hands on the wall first in the women’s 400m free, notching 4:00.12. Anna Egorova of Russia snagged silver in 4:02.40.
- The women’s 100m free saw Chiara Tarantino get the edge on Sofia Morini by just .01. Tarantino nabbed gold in 53.15, a new personal best by .20 while Morini touched in 53.16.
- Just 30 minutes after her 200m fly, Cusinato dove back in for the women’s 400m IM. She captured silver in 4:33.96 while Francesca Fresia earned the gold in 4;33.53.
- Nailing a #1 time in the world in the 200m breast was Francesca Fangio. She touched in 2:19.99, although she needed to be 2:19.7 to qualify for Romania.
- Paolo Conte Bonin stopped the clock in 1:43.97 to take the men’s 200m free.
- Pre-qualified Simone Cerasuolo earned 100m breast gold in 57.97.
- The men’s 50m free saw Alessandro Miressi top Lorenzo Zazzeri 21.29 to 21.33 in the race.
ATHLETES PRE-QUALIFIED FOR THE 2023 EUROPEAN SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Gregorio Paltrinieri
Thomas Ceccon
Lorenzo Mora
Nicolò Martinenghi
Sara Franceschi
Alessandro Miressi
Simone Cerasuolo
Benedetta Pilato
Simona Quadarella
Anita Bottazzo
Alberto Razzetti
Leonardo Deplano
Federico Poggio
Margherita Panziera
Lisa Angiolini
Martina Carraro
Marco De Tullio
Sofia Morini
Luca De Tullio
Video here
https://youtu.be/22Lqz5-qAjY?si=V-HBk5d3h47OOc5O
Probably would have got it with the mustach
Grow the moustache back in time for SC Euros and have another crack.
Link to results Nuoto (microplustiming.com)
Ceccon is what Americans think Casas should be.
Despite being ranked 4th on Swimswam’s top 100 male swimmers of 2023, Ceccon somehow doesn’t get the recognition/buzz you’d expect. He’s a phenomenal swimmer.
Yes, today he’s swam a 32.5 in the breaststroke leg; he has a so great potential in every stroke and it’s a pleasure to watch him swimming
Funniest thing ever:
Qin Haiyang is ranked #70 and Michael Andrew is ranked #23.
You can’t make this up even if you want to.
MA must be among the most overrated swimmers ever.
50m free: 21.46
50m back: 24,39 // 100m back: 53,40
50m breast: 26,52 // 100m breast: 58,14
50m fly: 22,79 // 100m fly: 50,80
200m IM: 1,55,26
Has he lived up to expectations? No. Did he peak at 2021 trials? Yes.
But his times are incredible, more if you take into account the amateurism of his coach, and his stubborness to change his methods. MA in any other country would be hyped as hell
MA has never won a single Olympics individual medal.
MA has never won a single World Championship (LCM) individual medal.
MA has been hyped up non stop by Swimswam and swimming community since he was 12.
Compared to other top male swimmers his age from USA and around the world, he’s far more hyped up and yet he’s achieved far less
He’s definitely WAY overrated.
Didn’t he win some individual medals last year?
Lisa, MA won individual medals at 2022 world championships, he won a PanPac gold (50m free, olympic event) and won a gold medal at the olympics as a part of the relay that broke the world record and also has won many US titles. Most other swimmers commonly respected here have had much worse careers. Did Seliskar achieve more? Blake Pieroni?
MA is controversial, but he isnt a complete failure as many want to make us think. I also think he hasnt fully achieved his potential, and he wont, but he is still a great swimmer
not as overrated as Reece Whitley lol