Thorpe Goes 50.84 in First Long Course Race Since Return

Australia’s Ian Thorpe, who is swimming his first long course meet this weekend in Italy, marked a 50.84 to take 16th place in the 100 free at the Italian Open Winter Long Course Championships in Riccione.

This was a solid debut, though he’ll still be lagging behind Michael Klim (who could be Thorpe’s biggest competitor for the final Olympic spot in this event). Thorpe showed that he’s still fighting to get out of 200 freestyle mode by going out in a relatively slow 24.50 and coming back in a relatively quick 26.34. (George Bovell of Trinidad & Tobago, for example, who was 14th split 24.05 – 26.67 for 14th place in 50.72 total).

The Italians are extremely deep in the sprint freestyles, so don’t be put off too much by Thorpe’s ranking. The winner of the race was Luca Dotto in 48.78,  followed by 2007 World Champ Filippo Magnini (48.82) and Dutch swimmer Sebastiaan Verschuren (49.03). Most of the Italians looked fairly unrested for this meet, despite it counting as an Olympic qualifying event for them.

Remember that if Thorpe wants to qualify for London, he will still have to overcome the challenge of swimmming multiple races in a day, which is something that was a challenge for him in the World Cup. This meet is split into a morning and evening session, but each race is a timed-final.

We’ll see him tomorrow in the 200 free, and I think there’s a chance that his swim there will be a turning point, and drive him back towards the 800 free relay instead.

In other races, 2009 World’s runner-up in the 800 Alessia Filippi took 4th in her first major swim in over a year with a time of 8:42.93 for 4th-place overall, before scratching the 200 IM. While that time won’t convince anyone that she wasn’t a “suit” swimmer, it’s good enough to show that she’s at least training again. Rachele Bruni won that event in 8:37.77.

Estonia’s Triin Aljand notched her best time of the year with a 25.34 to top the women’s 50 free. The top Italian finisher was the veteran Erica Buratto in 25.70. There’s a severe derth of talent in the Italian women’s sprints (similar to what you see in places like South Africa), but the future is on the way – 14-year old Giorgia Biondani tied for 4th in this race in 25.85. That’s an insanely-fast time for a 14-year old, especially one who is not rested (she was actually faster in August).

For those looking for a comparison as to what 14-year old times should look like, Missy Franklin and Lia Neal were 25.2 and 25.3 at 14 (though both were done right at the end of the suit era in the United States). Maddy Schaefer and Amanda Weir were only 26.0’s at that age.

Federica Pellegrini won the 200 free, an event that she’s a World Champion in, in 1:56.79. It’s hard to imagine she’s had much rest for this meet. Her splits were taken out in 57.4 and back in 59.3 – she’s not known as a hard-starter, and relative to how she typically swims this race, that’s a bigger spread for her. That might be something to watch as a bit of a change-of-strategy under her new coach. At the same time, she may just be feeling that she won’t be fortunate enough for hard-starters like Allison Schmitt and Femke Heemskerk to fade as badly as they did at Worlds.

In the women’s 100 fly, 18-year old Elena di Liddo smashed her own career-best time with a 58.66 victory. That’s half-a-second faster than what she did this summer at the Age Group National Championship meet, and all-told she’s cut over a second off of that time in the last year. She’s a future star in this event. She placed ahead of National Record holder Ilaria Bianchi, who was 2nd in 58.85.

And finally, in the men’s 100 backstroke, France’s Jeremy Stravius took the win in a tired 54.65. After a tough World Cup tour, and French Short Course Nationals just a few weeks ago, one hopes that Stravius has enough time to build his momentum back up before the French Elite Championships in March, especially with the big depth in French backstroking.

And finally, Serbian Milorad Cavic topped the men’s 50 fly standings in 23.94, which is a largely un-noteworthy time for him.

 Full results here.