ITALIAN WINTER OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS
- December 16th-17th, 2016
- Riccione, Italy
- Timed finals
- Live results
Italian 15-year-old Thomas Ceccon had a big swim in the 100 free at the 2016 Italian Winter Open Championships. Ceccon tied for 11th with Gianluca Maglia, though the two were in separate heats, as both swimmers touched in 50.42. With that time, Ceccon set a new Italian National Age Group Record for 15 & unders, breaking the previous mark of 50.62.
In the video, we can see that Ceccon trailed at the halfway point, but made his big move on the back half. He chased down the field with a strong underwater off the flip and a fast 2nd 50, swimming past Filippo Magli (50.53) and Davide Nardini (50.84). Check out the action below, courtesy of Loris Ceccon’s YouTube channel.
Ceccon wasn’t the only 18 & under swimmer to impress in the 100 free at this meet. 18-year-old Alessandro Miressi swam a lifetime best 49.08 to pick up the silver medal. He was just a few tenths back from gold medalist Luca Dotto (48.77), who represented Italy at this summer’s Rio Olympics in the sprint freestyles, 4×100 free relay, and 4×100 medley relay.
I’d say he might be as strong a backstroker as a freestyler in the long run.
I’d also say it is a short list of guys who will beat him in a 200 IM in Tokyo. A very short list.
http://youtu.be/JAOKZy5Rnbc
Very mature technique for a 15 year old. Everything loks good,even the dolphin kick off the turn; Italian coaches are finally catching up with their counterparts in the most advanced swimming countries. Ceccon has still the slender body of a boy, I cant wait to see what he does when he grows some muscle, let’s hope his love for the sport stays with him.
Thanks to Bobo Gigi for finding the video….
Great swim for a 15-year-old boy
As a comparison, fastest 15-year-old Americans last summer were:
Jack Dolan 51.14
Drew Kibler 51.36
Cason Wilburn 51.39
Will Tarvestad 51.50
and the now famous John Walker 51.58
Does anyone remember how this compares to Kyle Chalmers at the same age?
If I am not mistaken, he made a 49.68 at 15 breaking Ian Torpe Age Group record.
john26 – great question! We actually just addressed that here in a follow-up story: https://swimswam.com/blueseventy-swim-week-ceccon-sets-pace-italys-sprint-future/
That is an absolutely stunning swim for a 15 year old boy. This kid could be a big player in 2020.
In Italy we hope so, he is over 2 metres tall (6,6 or 6,7) and he is very fast in free, back and butterfly.
He has under-14 italian record in 50-100 free, 50-100-200 back, 50 fly, 400 medley (plus under-15 record in 100 free, 50-100 back and 50 fly).