2016 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS DAY 3
- Monday, May 16th – Sunday, May 22nd
- Prelims: 10:00 AM (London Time) / 5:00 AM (Eastern Time)
- Finals: 6:00 PM (London Time) / 1:00 PM (Eastern Time)
- London Aquatics Center, London, UK
- Meet Central
- Psych Sheet
- Live Results
- Live Stream
Italian distance swimmer Gregorio Paltrinieri, the heir to the world distance ground that has been occupied trepidly by China’s Sun Yang for the last 6 years, has broken the European Record in the men’s 1500 long course meter freestyle with a 14:34.04.
Swimming on day 3 of the 2016 European Aquatics Championships, Paltrinieri improved upon his own 14:39.67 that had been both the Italian and European Records. His latest swim is now the 2nd-fastest of all-time, trailing only Sun Yang’s World Record from the 2012 Olympics.
10 fastest 1500 LCM freestyles in history:
- Sun Yang, 14:31.02, 2012
- Gregorio Paltrinieri, 14:34.04, 2016
- Sun Yang, 14:34.14, 2011
- Grant Hackett, 14:34.56, 2001
- Sun Yang, 14:35.43, 2010
- Ous Mellouli, 14:37.28, 2009
- Ous Mellouli, 14:38.01, 2009
- Grant Hackett, 14:38.92, 2008
- Mack Horton, 14:39.53, 2016
- Ryan Cochrane, 14:39.63, 2012
Paltrinieri swam matching 14:39s to finish both his 2014 and 2015 seasons, and earlier this year in March swam a 14:40. His swim at the Italian Olympic Trials was off those best, in 14:42.91, but another huge surge forward on Wednesday marks the single biggest improvement upon his lifetime best in this event as an elite.
The difference between this race and the last one is that while he didn’t start nearly as fast, at every point where his splits fell off at Worlds, his splits either didn’t fall off, or fell off to a much lesser degree, at Europeans. Those spots have been bolded below at the 300 meter and 900 meter marks.
| 2015 World Championships | 2016 European Championships | |
| Splits | Splits | |
| 100 | 55.92 | 56.72 |
| 200 | 58.26 | 58.33 |
| 300 | 58.43 | 58.50 |
| 400 | 58.85 | 58.47 |
| 500 | 58.93 | 58.46 |
| 600 | 58.68 | 58.48 |
| 700 | 58.93 | 58.58 |
| 800 | 58.85 | 58.70 |
| 900 | 59.17 | 58.76 |
| 1000 | 59.17 | 58.62 |
| 1100 | 59.37 | 58.47 |
| 1200 | 59.14 | 58.48 |
| 1300 | 59.22 | 58.40 |
| 1400 | 59.32 | 58.48 |
| 1500 | 57.43 | 56.69 |
| 14:39.67 | 14:34.04 |
Twice in his swim, Paltrinieri matched his 50 splits identically. 9 times, he split within a tenth of a second on back-to-back 100s.
Paltrinieri’s countrymate and training partner Gabrielle Detti took the silver medal in 14:48.75, which is two seconds short of his own lifetime best. Detti ranks 17th on the list of all-time performers in this event,
Sun Yang hasn’t been faster than 14:41 since the 2012 Olympics, which leaves Australian 20-year old Mack Horton as the only likely candidate to be able to match Paltrinieri in Rio. Horton swam a 14:39 at Australia’s Olympic Trials, and being 2 years younger than Paltrinieri, and with a bigger gap since his last rested meet, he could sneak up and catch the Italian.
Amazing swim!! Under 14:30 is pretty hard but nothing is impossible. Remenber when Sun Yang finished his last 50m in 25.68 in London 2012. That was insane!!!
Also US Team’s Jordan Willemovksy is swimming this in Rio aside from the the 10km open water
I’ve actually been thinking that too. I know McBroom has been our #2 guy since London, but Wilimovsky has the momentum. And he quietly went a 14:53 in Mesa which is really fast for this time of year.
am i the only one that’s a little surprised that europe is holding, and swimmers are swimming in, a european championship in an olympic year? my understanding is that most countries have already had their trials and their olympic teams are pretty much set. with that qualification in hand, why are swimmers (apparently) resting for a meet like this a few months prior to the big show?
I’m not sure that the top swimmers on top teams are peaking for this meet. It’s most likely a chance for them to stay sharp, race, learn from racing, refine race technique, get into the routine of big meets, etc. I think this is a great plan: get things ironed out now, gel as a team, and have it locked in for Rio. Many of the next-tier swimmers are trying to chase FINA-A or improve seeds, or make a case to their Federation. That said, I think the world needs to WATCH OUT for stars who are swimming great here in the midst of training: Peaty, Hosszu, Paltrinieri, Detti, Guy, Cseh, Sjostrom, Hallsall, Kromo, Heemskirk, Nielsen, FRA 4 x 100… Read more »
Let’s have a little poll. Vote up if you think Sun’s record goes down in Rio, vote down if you think it stays.
Throwing it up on Twitter right now.
https://twitter.com/swimswamnews/status/733029562804785152
I still haven’t been under 1:00 in the 100m free:(
In Italian!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqPQqKPazIw
Under 14:30 in Rio? Gonna be a great race.
Incredible swim! Jaeger has a really fast one in him. Looking forward to this race in Rio.