Benedetta Pilato Wins 100 Breast Gold at Mediterranean Games

Benedetta Pilato Adds 100 Breaststroke Gold to European Bronze at Mediterranean Games

Benedetta Pilato twice lowered the 100m breaststroke championship file to clinch the Mediterranean Games title every week after European bronze.

Pilato went 1:06.64 in prelims earlier than returning to the Taranto pool to go 1:05.82 for gold, 0.07 sooner than her bronze-winning time at Paris 2026 final week.

She led dwelling defending champion Lisa Angiolini who made it an Italian 1-2 in 1:06.55 with Tina Celik of Slovenia third in 1:07.58.

“Winning and swimming at home is an incredible emotion,” stated Pilato by the Italian federation. “I have always been used to doing kilometres and kilometres to train and compete and instead now I am here, with family and many friends in the stands: it is really beautiful. A unique joy different from all the others”.

Gabriel Mancini additionally penned a brand new CR within the males’s 100 breaststroke, going 59.94 for the title. It was his fourth time contained in the minute mark and the third better of his profession following the 59.84 and 59.86 he posted on the Sette Colli worldwide in June. Christian Mantegazza made it an Italian 1-2 in 1:00.40 with Joaquin Pardo Ortiz third in 1:00.58.

Abdelrahman Elaraby of Egypt additionally set a championship file of 23.18 within the males’s 50 fly.

Rebelo & Siskos Upgrade European Silvers

Camila Rebelo dominated the ladies’s 200 again so as to add gold to her European silver. The Portuguese stopped the clock in 2:08.88 forward of Italian Federica Toma (2:11.62) and Sudem Denizli of Türkiye (2:13.13).

Apostolos Siskos additionally adopted up his Paris silver with gold within the southern Italian metropolis. The Greek swimmer posted 1:55.95, every week after e went 1:53.81 for a brand new nationwide file within the French capital. Matteo Venini of Italy was second in 1:57.28 with Tunisian Mohamed Yassin Ben Abbes coming from sixth on the last flip to maneuver by for third in 1:59.43.

Noemi Cesarano headed the quickest warmth of the ladies’s 1500 free in 16:08.39, a time that might have been ok for fifth on the European Championships. It was an eight-second PB for Cesarano who jumps from 10^th to fifth Italian all-time. Artemis Vasilaki – seventh in Paris – was second in 16:22.15 with Azzurra Sbaragli going 16:30.57 for an Italian 1-3.

A powerful second half guided Dimitrios Markos to a profitable defence of his 400 free title as he lowered his Greek file in 3:47.07. The 24-year-old minimize 0.37 from his earlier finest set en-route to silver on the 2024 European Championships. Alessandro Ragaini, the 2024 European junior champion, posted 3:49.02 for silver with Ahmed Jaouadi coming from fifth on the last flip to take bronze in 3:49.13.

Francesca Martins was by no means threatened on the head of the ladies’s 400 free last to take the title in 4:09.00. It adopted the Portuguese swimmer’s fourth place on the European Championships in Paris the place she was 3.20secs off the rostrum. Bianca Nannucci (4:11.61) and Antonietta Cesarano (4:13.17) made it an Italian 2-3.

Anna Ntountounaki captured the ladies’s 50 fly title in 26.11.