Quadarella’s Legendary Performance, Silver Medals for Pilato and Ceccon: How Many Medals Did Italy Win at the European Championships?

Italy continued to rack up medals on the final night of the European Swimming Championships, which concluded in Birmingham. Simona Quadarella stole the show, winning her third gold medal of this competition and her 11th overall at the continental level: After winning the 800- and 1,500-meter freestyle events, the Italian swimmer also prevailed in the 400-meter race, staging a strong final surge to overtake Germany’s Gose.

This marks her third triple crown (400, 800, and 1,500-meter events) in three consecutive editions of the continental championships—a unique feat that places her among the all-time greats. “At one point, I thought I’d never win because my opponents weren’t giving an inch. But in the last lap, I told myself to give it a shot, and it went great. What makes me most proud is my consistency,” she said after the race.

Two bitter silver medals, however, for Benedetta Pilato and Thomas Ceccon. The Italian swimmer, who entered the 100-meter breaststroke final with the fastest time, was edged out by Lithuania’s Meilutyte, the gold medalist, by just one hundredth of a second. It was also a bitter one-hundredth of a second for Thomas Ceccon, who, after leading the 100-meter backstroke race from start to finish, was edged out at the finish line by Greece’s Apostolos Christou.

There were also two silver medals in the 4×100-meter medley relays, for both the men’s and women’s teams. Sara Curtis, Benedetta Pilato, Anita Gastaldi, and Emma Virginia Menicucci were beaten by Great Britain and had to settle for second place. The men’s quartet of Ceccon, Martinenghi, D’Ambrosio, and Razzetti also took second place in the final, finishing a hair’s breadth behind the Russians.

In the medal count, Italy finished second behind Great Britain, which won more gold medals than Italy (14 to 13). But the Italian team was by far the one that won the most medals, a total of 43 compared to 26 for the British and 32 each for the Russians and Germans.