After breaking the European record in the 800 free on day 1, 19-year-old Gabriele Detti continued his rise by taking the men’s 400 free after an intense showdown with Gregorio Paltrinieri.
Detti led in the early goings, but Paltrinieri, the 1500 gold medalist at 2012 Worlds, reeled him in and the two battled through the middle of the race, separated by no more than .12 at every turn between 200 and 350 meters. Paltrinieri, also 19, took his first lead of the race at the final flip turn and looked like he’d successfully worn down his rival, but Detti showed off his speed by coming home in 26.9 to go 3:48.02. Paltrinieri took home second place at 3:48.41. Detti now ranks 8th in the world for 2014 in the event, with Paltrinieri 10th.
Also fast in that race was 27-year-old Samuel Pizzetti, who went out hard and actually led convincingly until the 300-mark. Pizzetti didn’t quite have the closing speed to match the top two, though, and went 3:49.38 for third place and a 13th-place world ranking.
One event earlier, Stefania Pirozzi crushed the women’s 400 IM field, putting up the world’s third-fastest time of the year at 4:36.75. Pirozzi, 20 years old, now trails only Britain’s Aimee Willmott and Hannah Miley in the rankings.
2014 LCM Women 400 IM TYR World Ranking
SHIWEN
4.30.84
| 2 | Katinka HOSSZU | HUN | 4.31.03 | 08/18 |
| 3 | Hannah MILEY | GBR | 4.31.76 | 07/24 |
| 4 | Elizabeth BEISEL | USA | 4.31.99 | 08/22 |
| 5 | Mireia BELMONTE GARCIA | ESP | 4.32.92 | 04/11 |
The meet opened with the men’s 50 fly, where national record-holder Piero Codia went 23.85 to power away with things. Codia was still a solid .6 off his Italian record from last summer.
Federica Pellegrini added another win to her total this week, going 2:09.27 to top the 200 back field by a second and a half. Pellegrini’s time just snuck into the world’s top 5 for the year.
2014 LCM Women 200 Back TYR World Ranking
HOCKING
2.06.40
| 2 | Emily SEEBOHM | AUS | 2.07.61 | 08/23 |
| 3 | Daria K USTINOVA | RUS | 2.08.02 | 05/13 |
| 4 | Meagen NAY | AUS | 2.08.19 | 01/17 |
| 5 | Elizabeth BEISEL | USA | 2.08.33 | 08/23 |
The men also swam the 200 back on day 3, with Christopher Ciccarese taking home the win in 1:57.21. That makes it two backstroke titles for Ciccarese, who won the 100 back earlier in the week. His time now sits 7th in the world ranks.
The final individual event of the session was the women’s 100 fly, where Italian record-holder Ilaria Bianchi went 58.27 to top 50 fly champ Silvia Di Pietro by a half second. Bianchi was 58.27, exactly a second off her national mark and ranking 9th in the world.
In the Men 200 back Luca Mencarini went 1.57.72, which is a solid time for a 18-year old (although I was hoping he would shave off more from his time in the Junior WC in Dubai).
You’d think Paltrinieri would be a much faster 400 free swimmer given his 1500 time. The last few great 1500 championships have been great 400 swimmers (Perkins, Hackett, Mellouli, Sun, +Horton seems to be going down that path).
But how is he going to build the speed for the 400, if he is now even swimming the 5.000? Just asking, I am not an expert.
He seems to be more of a swimmer like Ryan Cochrane, who’s lifetime best is only 3:44 but swims a 14:39 in the 1500. You don’t necessarily need to be incredibly fast in the 400 to swim the 1500.
Paltrinieri doesn’t really kick–ever. As long as he stays with the one-beat he uses even at the end of races he’s going to have a hard time competing in the shorter events.
I’m really impressed by the quality of times in most of the events.
The French championships look pale in comparison.