Italian swimming sensation Sara Curtis has shown signs she could eclipse former Olympic champion Federica Pellegrini after a record-breaking display at the national championships on Wednesday.
Curtis broke her own national record in the 50 metres freestyle with a time of 24.52 seconds in Riccione, 0.4sec faster than the time she clocked just over a year ago to qualify for the Paris Olympics.
Her rapid time came just a day after the 18-year-old trimmed Pellegrini’s national record in the 100m freestyle — set in 2016 — by 0.17sec with a time of 53.01sec.
In beating Pellegrini Curtis, who was a semi-finalist in the 50m freestyle at the Paris Games, also qualified for this year’s World Championships in Singapore.
Pellegrini retired in 2022 and is considered Italy’s best ever swimmer.
She claimed Olympic gold in the 200m freestyle in 2008 and is a six-time world champion.
Now 36 Pellegrini still holds the Italian and European records in the 200m (1m 52.98sec) and 400m (3m 59.15sec) freestyle.
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