16-Year-Old Lorenzo Galossi Shatters 800 Free World Junior Record with 7:43.37

2022 EUROPEAN AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Thursday, August 11 – Wednesday, August 17, 2022 (pool swimming)
• Rome, Italy
• Parco Del Foro Italico
• LCM (50m)
• Start Times
  • Prelims: 9:00 am local / 3:00 am ET
  • Finals: 6:00 pm local / 12:00 pm ET
• Meet Central
• Event Schedule
• Entries
• Live Results
• Live Stream
• Day 3 Finals Heat Sheet

DAY 3 FINALS HEAT SHEET

Italian distance freestyler Gregorio Paltrinieri stole the show in the 800-meter final with his Championships Record time of 7:40.86, but perhaps even more impressive was the bronze-medal swim by 16-year-old countryman Lorenzo Galossi that shattered a long-standing World Junior Record. 

Galossi negative split his way to a 7:43.37, surging to a spot on the podium while taking 2.3 seconds off the previous World Junior Record set by Australia’s Mack Horton back in 2013. 

“I’m in shock, it was an incredible race — something we’ve been preparing a lot for,” Galossi said. “I’m very happy with the time as I set a new junior world record and that’s amazing.”

MEN’S 800 FREESTYLE – FINALS

• World Record: 7:32.12 — Zhang Lin, China (2009)
• European Record: 7:39.27 — Gregorio Paltrinieri, Italy (2019)
• European Championships Record: 7:42.33 — Gregorio Paltrinieri, Italy (2016)
• 2020 European Champion: Mkyhailo Romanchuk, Ukraine — 7:42.61

Results:

1. Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA) – 7:40.86 (Championships Record)
2. Lukas Martens (GER) – 7:42.65
3. Lorenzo Galossi (ITA) – 7:43.37
4. Mykhailo Romanchuk (UKR) – 7:45.03
5. Sven Schwarz (GER) – 7:47.36
6. Damien Joly (FRA) – 7:48.82
7. Joris Bouchaut (FRA) – 7:50.69
8. Victor Johansson (SWE) – 7:54.51

Galossi sat back in sixth place for the first half of the race, making his move to fourth after the 400-meter mark and surpassing Ukraine’s Mykhailo Romanchuk with a few lengths to go. Galossi’s blistering 27.90 split on the final lap was nearly enough to catch silver medalist Lukas Martens on the home stretch, but the German held off the late surge by less than a second. 

Galossi’s new personal best marks an improvement of nearly three seconds from his previous standard of 7:46.28 posted at last month’s Italian Summer Championship. That time was a huge drop, too, shaving more than three seconds off his previous best from April. It’s difficult to project future trajectories, but Galossi is gaining ground on Paltrinieri in a hurry. 

Splits comparison, front half vs. back half

Galossi’s previous best was also a negative split. Most of his improvement came from a quicker front end, but he still had enough energy left in the tank to take time off the back half as well. 

Full splits comparison

Here’s how Galossi’s splits stack up against Horton’s previous World Junior Record performance. Notably, Horton took the race out faster in the first half, but Galossi’s back-half speed appears unmatched. 

Splits comparison, Galossi vs. Mack Horton’s previous WJR

The future is bright for Galossi, who is fresh off victories in the 400 and 800 free at Euro Juniors last month. At just 16 years old, Galossi is already among the top-20 fastest performers of all-time in the 800 free and ranks sixth in the world this year. It’s only up from here.