Once again Italian Matteo Rivolta set a new standard in Italy for the 100 butterfly SCM winning the event in a time of 50.77 breaking his own national record of 50.84, which he set at the Nico Saptio Trophy the previous weekend. This is the third consecutive weekend that Rivolta has lowered the record.
He first beat Joseph David Natullo‘s 2009 record of 50.99 at the Trofeo dell’Insubria on the weekend of October 26th and 27th.
Rivolta’s improvement over the last few years has been consistent and impressive:
- 2013 – 50.77
- 2012 – 51.10
- 2011 – 52.54
- 2010 – 53.59
*Rivolta did go a 52.55 in 2009, but that was in a polyurethane suit
With all of his lifetime bests being swum in December this is more than likely not the last time that we see the Italian record lowered before the end of the year.
Rivolta also won the 50 butterfly in a time of 23.53, which is 28 one-hundredths of a second away from Paolo Facchinelli‘s Italian National record of 23.25 set in 2010.
Rivolta is not the only Italian butterflyer to string together two solid weekends in a row; reigning short course world champion Ilari Bianchi also swept the sprint butterfly events in Lamezia. Bianchi won the 100 butterfly by over two seconds posting a time of 57.46, which is a season’s best. She also posted a 26.78 to win the 50 butterfly.
Recently Bianchi has made some noise in the Italian swimming circles about the lack of competition domestically in her best events, feeling that because she has no rivals in the country it is not giving her the challenge she needs to perform at a high level.
She may have a point.
Bianchi has a lifetime best in the 100 butterfly of 56.13, which she posted at the Short Course World Championships in Istanbul last year. This country’s top five this season is as follows:
- Ilaria Bianchi – 57.46
- Elena Di Liddo – 58.00
- Jessica Andreini – 59.40
- Silvia Di Pietro – 59.58
- Claudia Tarzia – 1:00.36
The biggest name at the competition was Federica Pellegrini who won both the 100 backstroke (58.80) and the 200 freestyle (1:56.08).
Russian Olympic medalists Evegeny Korotynskin and Anastasia Zueva both collected silver in their individual events. Korothinskin posted a 52.32 in the 100 butterfly to finish second to Rivolta while Zueva posted a 28.52 in the 50 backstroke being beaten by Arianna Barbieri who posted a 28.15 for the win.