Worlds, 4×100 freestyle is silver

World swimming championships, results

The four musketeers of the 4×100 freestyle do not get off the rainbow podium, are sparkling silver, dreaming for three quarters of the race of gold and snatching a pass for the Paris 2024 Olympics. Australia won in 3’10”16, thanks to Kyle Chalmers’ last split in 46”56; bronze went to the United States, defending world champions, in 3’10”81. The Azzurri lead a courageous race of the highest level. Alessandro Miressi (47”54) and Manuel Frigo (47”79) change to first place, keeping the Aussies to thirteenth and the U.S. to four; Lorenzo Zazzeri (48”13) fends off the comeback of James Taylor (47”91) for a margin from the Australians that is reduced to fourteen hundredths; Ceccon’s finish (47”03 with passage to the 50 in 22”26) is nevertheless fantastic, Chalmers burning him in the last fifteen meters, and still worth a wonderful silver in 3’10”49.

“I am very focused on this world championship,” Miressi begins, “Happy to have swum at my level. We tried to win and believed in it until the end; all four of us did great. This is the sport: the Australians won, we’ll make up for it next year.”

“Yes we did well and this was a somewhat complicated relay compared to other years,” Frigo continued, “We came in with more expectations than last year, when we were not at our best. On the one hand we are sorry for the faded victory and on the other hand we are happy for the silver won.”

“A silver that is worth gold,” says Zazzeri, “We are sorry for time because we could have won. There has been a lot of talk about this relay, and we knew that on this stage we would be exalted. So it was and for us who are friends it is even better.”

“It was a good relay in my opinion,” concluded Ceccon, who an hour earlier had qualified for the 50 butterfly final, “We were in the middle of the others, we pushed hard. The change in training also proved positive. I did my best ever throw. It’s a world silver. We are very happy.”

It is the medal of continuity, after the fourth place at the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, the Olympic silver in Tokyo 2021, the rainbow bronze in Budapest and the continental title in Rome in 2022: same formation but with the tactical novelty of Ceccon in the last fraction and Frigo in the second. This is the fifth medal in the specialty (0-2-3) and the second silver after that won by Massimiliano Rosolino, Alessandro Calvi, Christian Galenda and Filippo Magnini in Melbourne 2007.