2018 SETTE COLLI TROPHY
- June 29-30 / July 1, 2018
- Rome, Italy
- Foro Italico
- LCM (50m)
- Race Program
- Psych Sheet
- Live Results
After having approximately just 20 minutes between finals on day 1 of the Sette Colli Trophy, competing in the women’s 50 fly and 50 free, Swedish powerhouse Sarah Sjostrom is set up much better for day 2. She’ll swim the 100 fly final around 7:10, and then will have until 8:00 (per the timeline) before the 100 free finals get underway.
She has set herself up well for tonight’s session by taking the top seed in both of her events during prelims, leading the 100 fly in 57.61 and the 100 free in 53.59.
Tonight in the 100 fly she’ll certainly be looking to reclaim her spot atop the world rankings, having recently been overtaken by Japanese sensation Rikako Ikee, who went 56.23 at the Monaco stop of the Mare Nostrum Tour. Sjostrom’s fastest swim this year has been 56.35. Italian Elena Di Liddo and Hungarian Liliana Szilagyi head into the final tied for 2nd in a time of 58.73.
In the 100 free, the 24-year-old will go head-to-head for the second straight night with Danish superstar Pernille Blume, who defeated Sjostrom last night in the 50 while becoming the 6th fastest performer in history. Sjostrom led the heats in 53.59, with Blume (53.72) a close 2nd and Femke Heemskerk (53.86) of the Netherlands and Federica Pellegrini (54.05) of Italy both putting up season-best times for 3rd and 4th.
In that race tonight, Sjostrom and Blume will see if they can jump up in the world rankings as well, with Sjostrom (52.77) currently 4th and Blume (53.32) 7th. Australian Bronte Campbell is currently the fastest in the world this year with her 52.27 from the Commonwealth Games.
OTHER TOP SEEDS
- Brazilian Luiz Melo leads the men’s 200 fly prelims in 1:57.30, with Italian Filippo Berlincioni nearly cracking a lifetime best for the 2nd seed in 1:57.54. Olympic bronze medalist Tamas Kenderesi (1:58.87) of Hungary advanced in 4th, and Great Britain’s James Guy (2:00.23) squeaked through in 8th.
- Kira Toussaint of the Netherlands topped the women’s 100 back field in 1:00.06, followed by Czech Simona Baumrtova (1:00.38) and Dane Mie Nielsen (1:00.39). Toussaint has now had the six fastest swims of her life in 2018, with this ranking 5th among them. She’ll look to improve upon her 17th ranked 59.88 tonight.
- Matteo Milli of Italy put up a season-best to lead the men’s 100 back lineup in 54.79, followed by Romanian Robert Glinta (55.09), who won the 50 back last night in a new national record. Milli was 3rd in that race, while Brazilian Gabriel Fantoni, who was the runner-up, qualified 3rd this morning in 55.14. Also of note, Chad Le Clos tied for 9th with German Christian Diener in 55.76, and is expected to contest the B-final.
- Italian Ilaria Cusinato qualified 1st in the women’s 400 IM in 4:41.37, with Great Britain’s Aimee Willmott (4:42.52) and Hannah Miley (4:45.37) 2nd and 3rd. Willmott leads the world rankings this year with her 4:34.90 from the Commonwealth Games, while Miley sits 3rd and Cusinato 6th.
- World Championship silver medalist David Verraszto of Hungary leads the men’s prelims in 4:15.79, and will look to improve upon his 5th ranked 4:12.98 tonight. Max Litchfield, coming off of injury that forced him out of the Commonwealth Games, qualified 2nd in 4:18.18.
- Brazilian Pedro Spajari ripped a 48.80 to lead the men’s 100 free prelims, with Luca Dotto (48.95) the only other man sub-49. Santo Condorelli swam his first 100 of the season in a very solid 49.27 to qualify 5th, while Le Clos was back in 24th (49.98). Ben Proud, who sent shockwaves through the swimming community yesterday with his 21.16 50 free, was well back in 50.56 for 32nd. His splits: 23.75/26.81.
- Yuliya Efimova cruised to the top spot in the women’s 50 breast, clocking 30.25, and Adam Peaty did the same in the men’s event in 26.74. They’ll look to drop their season-bests of 29.93 and 26.49 respectively tonight.
Blume may have a big 100 here. She improved a sizeable amount on her 50 best, and she was a 52.69 at budapest last year. I think a 52.2-52.4 is on the table here.
Seems like Proud and Andrew are both 50 free specialists. Although Andrew does a great SC 100 IM so you would think he could could hold up better in a 100
and Andriy Govorov among others. But remember, we only criticize Andrew for swimming the 50s.
I wonder how much of that criticism stems from the previous expectation at MA was gonna be the next Phelps back when MA originally went pro at 14.
Well, that isn’t his fault unless MA specifically said he was going to be the next Phelps.
A comparison which he specifically tried to dodge, saying something to the effect of “I don’t wanna be the next Michael Phelps, I wanna be the first Michael Andrew” in one of the earlier press pieces on him.
All comparisons to Phelps were projected by the wonderful commenters of swimswam dot com (and probably that other site, but we won’t talk about it).
Phelps also said something to the effect that he didn’t want to be the next Mark Spitz, he was going to be the first Michael Phelps. So not so original.
I’m interested in the women’s 100m freestyle. Sarah doesn’t seem to be in a great form comparing with Blume. Blume hasn’t had the same success in 100m comparing to Sarah so I think it could be a fun race to watch.
Ok how proud go 50,5???
He’s a 50 specialist plain and simple. His bulky physique doesn’t bode well for anything beyond a 50. Perhaps if you put him in a super suit (like Alain Bernard), he would hold up better. Nothing wrong with being a 50 specialist as a lot of swimmer are.
Still you would think if you can hit 21.16 you could manage a sub-50 100. Doesn’t take anything away from him, an incredible swimmer. Excited to see him and Dressel race in the future.
I’m pretty sure Proud has split 47 point on a relay at some point as well. I know his best flat start is around 48 mid.