Benedetta Pilato Kicks off European Juniors in 50 Breast Prelims (Heat Sheets)

2021 EUROPEAN JUNIOR SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Tuesday, July 6th – Sunday, July 11th
• Foro Italico, Rome, Italy
• Heats at 9:30am local (3:30am EST)/Finals at 6pm local (Noon EST)
• LCM (50m)
• Start Lists/Results
• Entry List
• Day 1 Heat Sheet

Day 1 of the 2021 European Junior Swimming Championships doesn’t have any pre-session high profile scratches, but there are plenty of high-profile swims to look forward to as the 6 day meet kicks off in Rome.

That includes the World Record holder (along with European Record Holder, World Junior Record holder, European Junior Record holder, and Championship Record holder) Benedetta Pilato.

The 16-year old Italian won this event at the last edition of the European Junior Championships in 2019. While she’ll get some competition from the 14-year old Eneli Jefimova, the young Estonian who seems like she’s the heir to Pilato’s junior throne down the road, Pilato is a huge favorite to win this race.

This will be Pilato’s only individual swim at this meet as a quick tuneup before she chases an Olympic medal later this month in Tokyo in the 100 breaststroke. She lives and trains in Rome, where the meet is being held, so it will be a low-logistics race for her before she leaves with the rest of the Italian swimming squad for their final pre-Olympic Games camp.

Prelims and semi-finals will run on Tuesday, with finals set for Wednesday evening.

The sprints are the story on day 1 of the meet. A showdown in the men’s 50 fly between Bulgaria’s Josif Miladinov and Denmark’s Rasmus Nickelsen; and the future of British women’s sprinting on display in the 8th prelims heat of the women’s 100 free with Evelyn Davis and Tamryn van Selm swimming side-by-side.