2019 FINA WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS
- All sports: Friday, July 12 – Sunday, July 28, 2019
- Pool swimming: Sunday, July 21 – Sunday, July 28, 2019
- The Nambu University Municipal Aquatics Center, Gwangju, Korea
- Meet site
- Competition Schedule
- FinaTV Live Stream
- Entry Lists
- Results
Italy’s momentum from 2018 is carrying over nicely to 2019, and on Monday evening in Gwangju, the country’s swimmers broke their 3rd National Record in 2 days in the women’s 100 breaststroke. That puts them on pace to surpass the 10 they broke at last summer’s European Championships (including 2 in mixed medley relays).
The latest effort comes in the women’s 100 breaststroke semi-final from Martina Carraro, who swam to a 4th-place qualification for finals in 1:06.39. That broke her own National Record of 1:06.41 that was broken at the 2016 Italian Championships/Olympic Trials.
Carraro largely missed-out on the Italian explosion in 2018: at the European Championships, she finished just 7th in the 100 breaststroke in 1:07.59 – her fastest time since 2016. She wasn’t even the top Italian – her younger countrymate Arianna Casstiglioni took bronze and nearly got the Italian Record in 1:06.54.
Castiglioni, meanwhile, had to take on a swim-off with Fanny Lecluyse to even qualify for the final, and she took advantage with a new personal best and matching Carraro’s semi-finals record of 1:06.39.
Comparative Splits:
| 1st 50 | 2nd 50 | Total Time | ||
| Martina Carraro | 2019 Worlds | 31.76 | 34.63 | 1:06.39 |
| Martina Carraro | 2016 Nationals | 31.28 | 35.13 | 1:06.41 |
| Arianna Castiglioni | 2019 Worlds | 31.55 | 34.84 | 1:06.39 |
While the time wasn’t vastly different from her 2016 record, the pacing of the 26-year Carraro old has evolved significantly in that half-a-second of speed has moved from the front-half to the back-half of her race. The difference? An added strength routine. At the 2018 Short Course World Championships in Hangzhou, Carraro said that she was taking on a new strength training routine for this season, and early returns show that it’s paying off in a big way for her. So far in 2019, she’s now swum 7 times faster than her 2018 best in this event.
Castiglione’s pacing, meanwhile, did a similar, if more modest shift to back-half speed: at the European Championships, she split 31.34/35.20.