17-year-old Arianna Castiglioni broke the overall Italian record in the 50 breast to highlight Italy’s Age Group Championships.
The Age Group Championships took place over seven days last week, with the youngest age groups swimming from August 7th to August 9th, and the older age groups (and a few of the nation’s best senior swimmers) from August 10th to August 13th.
The age groups differ between boys and girls, and are based on the athlete’s year of birth rather than their actual age on the day of the meet.
The rough age brackets:
14: Boys age 14 (born in 2001)
Youth: Boys ages 15-16 (born in 1999 & 2000) and girls ages 13-14 (born in 2001 & 2002)
Junior: Boys ages 17-18 (born in 1997 & 1998) and girls ages 15-16 (born in 1999 & 2000)
Cadet: Boys ages 19-20 (born in 1995 & 1996) and girls ages 17-18 (born in 1997 & 1998)
Castiglioni – who was 17 for the duration of the meet, but turned 18 on August 15th – broke her own age group record in the Cadet category, while also taking down the overall national record in the 50 breast. Her time of 30.74 got under her previous mark by just over a tenth, and also broke the Italian record set just days earlier by Martina Carraro at the World Championships in Russia.
The breaststroke speed didn’t stop with Castiglioni, either. European Youth Olympic Festival star Nicolo Martinenghi continued to roll, breaking youth age group records in the 100 and 200 breasts.
Swimming in the Youth division, Martinenghi (born in 1999) swept the breaststroke races. His 1:01.48 in the 100 breast just snuck under the age group record he set earlier this summer. He also went 2:13.74 to win the 200 breast and break another of his own Youth records.
Also in the Youth category, Alberto Razzetti broke the age group 100 fly record, going 54.79. That’s .09 seconds under the previous record, which was set in 2011 by Francesco Giordano.
One age group down, 14-year-old Thomas Ceccon broke the 14-year-olds 200 back record, going 2:06.83. Meanwhile, Federico Burdisso broke the 14-year-olds 100 free record with a 53.63. Ceccon was just off the record too, going 53.84.
The Cadet-level girls also tore up the record books in the sprints. In addition to Castiglioni’s national record, two more age group records fell to the 17-18 girls. Giulia Spaziani took down the age group 50 back record, going 28.71 and winning by almost a full second, and Giorgia Biondani went 25.15 to tie her own Cadet record in the 50 free. Spaziani was second in that 50 free as well.
You can find full results of the Italian Age Group Championships here.