European Swimming Championships: Who Is Sara Curtis, the 19-Year-Old Italian Swimmer Who Set the World Record? Bronze for Pilato and Ceccon
It’s a fireworks display for Italy at the European Swimming Championships currently underway in Paris: 19-year-old Sara Curtis set an incredible world record during the women’s 50-meter backstroke semifinal. The Italian swimmer clocked a time of 26.63 seconds, stunning the world and shattering the previous record held by Olympic champion Kaylee McKeown by a full 0.23 seconds.
The women’s 50-meter backstroke final will take place on Thursday. The rising star of Italian swimming was born in Savigliano on August 19, 2006, and specializes in sprint and short-distance freestyle and backstroke. In 2025, she rewrote Italian swimming history by breaking Federica Pellegrini’s national record in the 100-meter freestyle.
In 2024, she was the youngest athlete on the Italian swimming team at the Paris Olympics. Born in Piedmont to an Italian father and a Nigerian mother, she is a member of the Army Sports Group and CS Roero, and has chosen to attend the prestigious University of Virginia in the United States to study and train at the highest level. Her main goal is the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
On Wednesday evening, the Italian medals also came in: Thomas Ceccon won bronze in the 200-meter backstroke, breaking the Italian record. “I really struggled this year: I trained so hard for this darn 200-meter backstroke. I’m so happy and I don’t want to hide it. After so many training sessions I didn’t feel like doing, but that I pushed through anyway—this is the result.”
Applause also went to Benedetta Pilato, bronze medalist in the 100-meter breaststroke: she finished third behind Evanz and McSharry. A great silver medal for the women’s 4×100 freestyle relay: the quartet of Menicucci, Curtis, Tarantino, and Mao also set a new Italian record.
