Benedetta Pilato Breaks Italian Record in 100 Breast (1:05.44), No. 5 in World This Season

2024 SETTE COLLI TROPHY

• Friday, June 21st – June 23rd
• Foro Italico Swimming Stadium, Rome, Italy
• LCM (50 meters)
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• Prelims Recaps: Day 1
• Finals Recaps: Day 1

Benedetta Pilato kicked off the 2024 Sette Colli Trophy with an Italian record in the 100 breaststroke on Friday, blasting a personal-best 1:05.44 that ranks 5th in the world this season.

The 19-year-old world champion lowered her previous-best 1:05.70 from the 2022 Italian Championships. In the process, Pilato erased Arianna Castiglioni‘s national record of 1:05.67 that had stood for three years since the 2021 Sette Colli Trophy.

It’s a promising sign for Pilato ahead of the Paris Olympics next month. She missed the 100 breast final with a 9th-place finish at the 2024 World Championships (1:06.70) and skipped last year’s Worlds after winning the 2022 world title in 1:05.93.

Women’s 100 Breast – Final

• World record: 1:04.13, Lilly King (USA) – 2017
• European record: 1:04.34, Ruta Meilutyte (LTU) – 2013
• Meet record: 1:04.98, Yuliya Efimova (RUS) – 2018
• Olympic ‘A’ cut: 1:06.79

Top 8:

1. Benedetta Pilato (ITA) – 1:05.44
2. Angharad Evans (GBR) – 1:05.91
3. Martina Carraro (ITA) – 1:06.43
4. Tes Schouten (NED) – 1:06.65
5. Henrietta Fangli (HUN) – 1:07.08
6. Kara Hanlon (SCO) – 1:07.29
7. Francesca Zucca (ITA) – 1:07.53
8. Sophie Hansson (SWE) – 1:07.62

Angharad Evans threw down the second sub-1:06 swim of her career after breaking the British record last month with a personal-best 1:05.54 — the second-fastest swim ever by a British woman and the 6th-fastest in the world this season. Her 1:05.91 tonight was more than half a second faster than her 1:06.54 at British Trials in April.

Martina Carraro recorded her fastest 100 breast since last April’s Italian Championships, placing 3rd in 1:06.43. The 30-year-old dipped under the standard of 1:06.79, but there are no available slots in the event since Pilato and Lisa Angiolini already qualified.

Tes Schouten, who won silver in the 100 breast at the 2024 World Championships, placed 4th in 1:06.65. The 23-year-old Dutchwoman ranks 9th in the world this season with her season-best 1:05.82 from February.