European Jr Champ Sveva Schiazzano Joins Rutgers for Spring Semester

In another shakeup (to the positive, this time), Rutgers has added Italian swimmer Sveva Schiazzano to their roster mid-season. She enrolled in the school in January and will be immediately eligible to compete. The addition comes 2 months after the Rutgers women’s swimming & diving team lost its head coach Petra Martin in November.

The 18-year old Schiazzano was the 2015 European Games champion in the 1500 free. That inaugural edition of the European Games served as a stand-in for that year’s European Junior Championships, so she was, in effect, the European Junior Champion that year. Her best times in long course meters (with short course conversions):

• 50 free – 28.36
• 100 free – 59.28
• 200 free – 2:03.94 (1:48.77)
• 400 free – 4:15.51 (4:46.28 – 500y)
• 800 free – 8:39.46 (9:42.02 – 1000y)
• 1500 free – 16:26.16 (16:06.82 – 1650y)

To this point in her career, she’s focused almost exclusively on the freestyle events, and has generally been equally as good in short course as in long course.

If she can reach peak shape in time, she should have an immediate spot on at least Rutgers’ 800 free relay that ranks 8th out of 12 teams in the Big Ten so far this season. She’ll also be an immediate A-final contender for Rutgers at the Big Ten championships in the 650 for sure, and possibly the 500 as well. Last season, en route to a 9th-place team finish at the Big Ten Championships, Rutgers didn’t enter anybody in the 1650 free and didn’t score anybody in the 500.

Schiazzano competed at Rutgers’ last two meets. She swam 4:59.64 in the 500 free and 10:12.11 in the 1000 free in Rutgers’ tri meet against Virginia Tech and Ohio State, and then placed 2nd in the 500 free (4:55.71) and won the 1650 free (16:50.69) among 6 swims against Nebraska.