2016 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
- 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
Italy’s Gabriele Detti dominated the men’s 400 free final on the opening night of the European Championships, touching in a time of 3:44.01 to set a new Championship record and take the win. Detti’s time chops over a second off of previous record holder Yury Prilukov‘s mark of 3:45.10 from the 2008 Championships in Eindhoven.
Detti flipped first at the 200m mark in 1:52.07 after overtaking early leader Velimir Stjepanovic, and eventually cruised to the win by nearly two and a half seconds. Detti actually negative split the race, closing the final 200m in a swift 1:51.94. Interestingly enough Prilukov negative split his race in 2008 as well, out in 1:53.18 and back in 1:51.92.
Here’s a comparative look at Detti’s splits tonight versus Prilukov’s 2008 splits.
- Detti, 2016: 54.40 / 1:52.07 (57.67) / 2:48.91 (56.84) / 3:44.01 (55.10)
- Prilukov, 2008: 55.26 / 1:53.18 (57.92) / 2:50.43 (57.25) / 3:45.10 (54.67)
Detti set his personal best in April clocking 3:43.97 at Italian Nationals where he won by nearly seven seconds. That swim moved Detti into 3rd in the world behind only Mack Horton (3:41.65) and James Guy (3:43.84). He certainly could contend for a medal in Rio.
Detti came into the meet seeded 2nd behind Guy, but the Brit had a horrendous morning swim that saw him finish 27th in 3:52.91.
After posting consecutive 3:43.9 and 3:44.0 performances, Detti could very well take down Massimiliano Rosolino‘s national record of 3:43.40 by the end of the summer. Rosolino set that record in 2000 at the Sydney Olympics where he won silver.
Detti will also compete in the 800 and 1500 freestyle events in London, where he’ll be an underdog to countryman Gregorio Paltrinieri, the reigning World Championship gold medalist in the 1500.