2026 Sette Colli Trophy Day 3 Prelims: G. Walsh And Sjostrom Set For 50 Freestyle Showdown

67th SETTE COLLI TROPHY

We entered the third and ultimate day of motion on the 67th Sette Colli Trophy and already we’ve seen a number of information go down, together with final night time’s World Record stunner by Marrit Steenbergen within the ladies’s 100m freestyle.

This morning’s prelims have been total on the subdued facet, that means the main gamers held their playing cards near their chest and are ready to pounce as soon as the medals are on the road throughout tonight’s fundamental present.

One exception, nonetheless, was the ladies’s 50m freestyle, the place American Gretchen Walsh put up a big-time swim of 24.10 to seize the highest seed.

23-year-old Walsh holds a slight benefit over Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden, who noticed her former World Record of 23.61 on this splash n’ sprint get lowered to 23.59 by American Olympic champion Kate Douglass ultimately week’s Pro Swim Series.

New mother Sjostrom checked in with a brilliant strong outing of 24.24 for the 2nd seed this morning, following up on her 50m fly silver behind Walsh earlier within the competitors.

Italian Sara Curtis, the 19-year-old who clocked a brand new nationwide file of 52.69 in final night time’s 100m free, rounded out this morning’s high tier with 24.37, simply off her season-best of 24.29 from April’s Italian Championships.

Going again to Walsh, the University of Virginia powerhouse’s effort this morning represents the 4th-best time of her profession, one which boasts a lifetime better of 23.78 from earlier this 12 months. That ranks her #2 behind Douglass within the season’s world rankings, with Sjostrom’s morning swim now inserting her into slot #7.

Of observe, Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey and Belgium’s Roos Vanotterdijk have been no-shows for this splash n’ sprint.

The prelims of the boys’s 50m butterfly additionally delivered some head-turning outcomes, with Swiss Olympic medalist Noe Ponti busting out a season-best of twenty-two.81 to steer the pack.

That represents the Eighth-best time of his prolific profession. Ponti has been as quick as 22.51, the nationwide file he placed on the books en path to snagging the silver within the occasion on the 2025 World Championships. Ponti’s morning swim now ranks him sixth on this planet on the season.

Hungarian Olympic champion and 200m fly World Record holder Kristof Milak was proper behind Ponti this morning, clocking 23.06 to place his hat within the ring for potential {hardware}.

Milak’s time was only a hair off his lifetime finest, a time of 23.03 nabbed on the Hungarian National Championships in April to rank fifteenth on this planet getting into this competitors.

Greek nationwide file holder Stergios-Marios Bilas is within the combine, delivering a morning time of 23.30, with Brazilian dynamo Gui Caribe additionally proper there in 23.32.

Additional contenders making the highest 8 embody Oleg Kostin of Russia, Jere Hribar of Croatia and Luca Armbruster of Germany.

Two ladies dipped below the two:10 threshold on this morning’s 200m fly, with Italy’s Paola Borrelli getting it finished for the highest seed in 2:09.42.

Joining her below the barrier was Danish nationwide file holder Helena Rosendahl Bach who touched in 2:09.91.

21-year-old Borrelli’s lifetime finest checks in on the 2:07.47 put up simply this previous April on the Italian Championships to qualify her for this summer time’s European Championships.

American Olympic medalist Alex Walsh staked her declare on the ladies’s 200m IM as a follow-up to her 400m IM gold throughout final night time’s finals.

24-year-old Walsh stopped the clock this morning at a easy 2:13.84 because the 2nd-seeded swimmer, sitting behind Irish nationwide file holder Ellen Walshe, who completed a fingernail forward in 2:13.58.

Italy’s Sara Franceschi lurks because the Third seed in 2:14.00, whereas versatile Steenbergen can also be within the combine, courtesy of her morning outing of two:15.43.

As for Walsh, her lifetime finest stays on the big-time 2:07.13 she established on her method to incomes gold within the occasion on the 2022 World Championships. Her stellar profession contains following that up with silver in Fukuoka the next 12 months (2:07.97), then topped off with a painstaking disqualification on the 2024 Olympic Games. Prior to the DQ, she was on her method to a private finest of two:07.06, which might have garnered her the bronze.

After delivering the 2nd-fastest time on this planet within the males’s 100m free on his method to gold final night time, Romanian Olympic champion David Popovici is in search of to double up with a possible win within the 200m free.

21-year-old Popovici stopped the clock at 1:47.66 to land lane 4 for tonight’s fundamental occasion, with British Olympic medalist Jack McMillan set to flank him after a morning swim of 1:47.75.

Lithuania’s Tomas Lukminas will probably be on Popovici’s different facet with a Third-seeded 1:47.81.

Additional gamers within the combine embody Italy’s Carlos D’Ambrosio (1:47.88), Marco De Tullio (1:48.28) and 400m free medalist right here Alessandro Ragaini.

Lithuanian nationwide file holder Danas Rapsys discovered himself out of the highest 8, relegated to thirteenth in 1:49.31, whereas Lorenzo Galossi and Nandor Nemeth didn’t dive in for his or her swims this morning.

Additional Notes

• Just 5 males cleared the two:00 barrier on this morning’s heats of the 200m again, led by Swiss Olympic medalist Roman Mityukov. The 25-year-old notched an AM effort of 1:58.53 for the comfy lead over his opponents, with host nation swimmer Dylan Buonaguro the subsequent in line in 1:59.42. Ireland’s World Junior Championships multi-gold medalist John Shortt lurks because the Third-seeded athlete in 1:59.68. Mityukov earned a shock bronze on this 2back on the 2024 Olympic Games, placing up a then-Swiss nationwide file of 1:54.85 within the course of. He has since lowered that benchmark to 1:54.83 ultimately 12 months’s World Championships, the place he completed off the rostrum in seventh (1:55.57).
• 19-year-old Dora Molnar of Hungary, in addition to the University of Southern California within the NCAA, posted the highest time of the morning within the ladies’s version of the 200m again. The teen punched a results of 2:12.88 to maintain a pair of Italians at bay. Molnar will probably be flanked tonight by Aurora Velati, who notched 2:13.33, and Anna Conti, who logged 2:14.61 for the Third seed. Molnar owns a private finest of two:08.53 on this occasion, a time she established within the prelims of the 2025 World Championships. There in Singapore, the Hungarian in the end positioned seventh total in a slower mark of two:09.74.
• The males’s 200m IM prelims have been void of any outcomes clearing the two:00 barrier. Simone Spediacci was the highest performer in 2:00.28, with teammate Massimiliano Matteazzi subsequent to the wall in 2:00.64. Hungary’s Gabor Zombori hit 2:01.27 for the Third seed and Italy’s nationwide file holder Alberti Razzetti cruised to the sixth slot in 2:02.05.
• Christian Mantegazza led the cost within the males’s 200m breaststroke, though it was a moderately pedestrian set of prelims. Mantegazza logged a time of two:12.28 to carry a slim benefit over Dutch Olympic medalist Caspar Corbeau, who produced 2:12.39. Turkey’s Kerem Ilyem clinched the Third seed in 2:12.69. Of observe, Italian Olympic champion within the 100m breast, Nicolo Martinenghi, in addition to Dutch Olympic silver medalist Arno Kamminga have been each no-shows.
• Olympic medalist Mona McSharry of Ireland was the highest ladies’s 200m breaststroker, hitting a mark of two:25.32 to steer the sphere. Fellow Olympic medalist Tes Schouten of the Netherlands was subsequent to the wall in 2:27.19 and Lithuania’s Kotryna Tetervkova will probably be vying to present her nation its first medal right here with a Third-seeded 2:27.83. Lisa Angiolini of Italy logged 2:28.04 and there was a tie for Eighth between Alex Walsh and Aurora Vetnuri, with each notching 2:29.33.
• Simona Quadarella obtained it finished this morning to assert the highest seed within the ladies’s 400m free. The Olympic medalist produced 4:11.26 to carry a 2+ second benefit forward of her opponents.