Worlds: Azzurri of swimming gold in mixed relay

World Championships: swimming Azzurri d'gold in the mixed relay

First gold medal for swimming Italy at the short-tub World Championships under way in Hungary: the quartet composed of Leonardo Deplano, Alessandro Miressi, Silvia Di Pietro and Sara Curtis took the highest step on the podium in the final of the 4×50-meter mixed freestyle relay.

The Azzurri won with a time of 1'28"50 and ahead of Canada (1'28"60) and Poland (1'28"80). After good fractions by Deplano and Miressi, it was the girls who made the difference: Di Pietro and especially 18-year-old Sara Curtis ran wild, the last fractionalist finishing just two-tenths off the national record.

Thanks to this success Italy won its first gold: in previous days it had hit three silvers. "We had fun. We knew we could play for something big, we were good at keeping our nerves. We took advantage of a’chance and I am delighted", said Sara Curtis.

Ahead of everyone in the medal standings is the United States with 11 golds, 7 silvers and 4 bronzes, followed by Canada.