Italy’s Ceccon Hits 200 Free Personal Best At Luxembourg Euro Meet

By Retta Race on SwimSwam

2023 LUXEMBOURG EURO MEET

• Friday, January 27th – Sunday, January 29th
• Centre National Sportif et Culturel d’Coque, Luxembourg
• LCM (50m)
• World Championships-qualifying meet
• Meet Site
• SwimSwam Preview
• Day 1 Recap
• Live Results

The action continued from Luxembourg at the 2023 Euro Meet with Ireland’s first-ever European Record holder Daniel Wiffen back in the pool.

After snagging silver in the 1500m on night one, 21-year-old Wiffen grabbed gold in the men’s 800m freestyle.

Wiffen got to the wall first in a time of 7:53.14, holding a comfortable advantage over runner-up Ahmed Mahmoud. Mahmoud scored silver in 7:57.52 while Ukraine’s Mykhailo Romanchuk was a fingernail behind in 7:57.56 for bronze.

Wiffen owns the Irish national record in this 8free event with the 7:46.32 he put up at last year’s World Championships. There in Budapest, the Loughborough-trained athlete ultimately wound up 8th while Romanchuk secured bronze.

Sophie Hansson of Sweden ensured a meet Euro Meet Record bit the dust, as the 24-year-old clocked a mark of 30.69 to take the women’s 50m breast.

Hansson’s time overtook the previous competition standard of 30.70 Italy’s Martina Carraro put on the books in 2019, the last time this competition was held before a hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic. Carraro was in the race on day two as well, settling for silver in 31.27.

Carraro exacted revenge in the women’s 200m breast, however, earning gold in a time of 2:26.67. That just out-touched Hansson who was next to the wall in 2:25.82.

Italy got on the board with gold, courtesy of the dynamic Thomas Ceccon. Ceccon, who owns the long course 100 backstroke World Record, took on the men’s 200m freestyle here in Luxembourg.

Ceccon registered a solid time of 1:46.52, comprised of a 51.49 opener and a back half of 55.03. The 22-year-old’s effort here represents a big-time personal best, outperforming his previous PB of 1:48.95 produced in June of last year.

Ceccon’s 1:46.52 now renders him Italy’s 7th fastest performer all-time as well as the 3rd fastest performer in the world this season.

Great Britain’s Ben Proud continued his sprint campaign, following up his 50m fly victory from night one with gold in the 50m free on day two. Proud stopped the clock in a time of 22.01, holding off a charging Italian in Leonardo Deplano. Deplano captured silver in 22.13.

Proud’s result checks in as his season-best, inserting him into the season’s world rankings as the 5th fastest performer.

Additional Notes

• Paula Otero of Spain captured gold in the women’s 1500m free in a mark of 16:32.68.
• Italy’s Federico Poggio led a 1-2 punch in the men’s 50m breast, topping the podium in 27.30 while teammate Simone Cerasuolo was next in 27.48.
• Nina Kost was the fastest women’s 50m backstroker, stopping the clock in 29.03. American Coleman Stewart took the men’s race in 25.44.
• Loughborough’s Louise Hansson of Sweden was the quickest woman of the 100m fly field, posting a solid outing of 57.25.
• South African Olympic champion Chad Le Clos topped the men’s 100m fly podium in a mark of 52.06.
• Japan’s sole competitor here, Yu Hanaguruma got it done for gold in the men’s 200m breast, hitting a time of 2:11.41. That was enough to hold off Austrian national record holder Christopher Rothbauer who slid into second place in 2:11.92.
• Italy’s Silvia Di Pietro scored gold in the 50m free in 25.18.
• American Paige Madden earned 200m free gold, posting a time of 2:00.29 as the winner.

SwimSwam: Italy’s Ceccon Hits 200 Free Personal Best At Luxembourg Euro Meet