52nd NICO SAPIO TROPHY
The 52nd Nico Sapio Trophy began today at the Sciorba Swimming Pool in Genoa, with the two-day affair representing an important stepping stone along the path to November’s Italian Short Course Championships.
While that competition represents the primary qualification opportunity for this year’s Short Course World Championships, performances put up in Genoa this weekend may also be taken into consideration when determining Italy’s team for Beijing.
Per the qualification criteria for SC Worlds, the top three athletes at the 2026 European Championships have already earned slots, with the remaining openings being determined from the Italian Championships and this Nico Sapio.
Alberto Razzetti kicked off his campaign in style, reaping gold in the men’s 200m IM in dominant fashion.
The multi-World Championships medalist stopped the clock at a speedy time of 1:53.38, beating the pack by over four seconds en route to topping the podium.
27-year-old Razzetti’s outing fell outside his list of top 10 personal best performances, but is a solid showing with the Italian SC Championships on the horizon.
After the race, the Italian Swimming Federation quoted Razzetti as saying, “It’s really nice to compete here for this trophy. It’s nice to hear my name called by the kids, to feel that everyone is cheering for me even in a period when competing is tiring and my form isn’t at its best. This gives you that extra strength to give it your all. I did very well in the World Cup, especially in the 200 medley: it’s nice to start the season on the right foot.”
The men’s 200m freestyle saw Andrea Zanin produce the top time of 1:44.80, establishing a new lifetime best in the process.
Entering this competition, Zanin had been as quick as 1:46.10 from last year, so he blew that to bits with tonight’s victory.
Runner-up status went to Alessandro Ragaini, who touched in 1:45.20, with Damiano Cappeliazzo earning bronze in 1:45.49.
Anita Gastaldi ripped a new meet record in the women’s 200m fly, reaping gold in a stellar time of 2:05.65.
That got the 23-year-old to the wall nearly two seconds ahead of the field, with Sofia Sartori securing silver in 2:07.61, followed by Giulia Caprai, who bagged the bronze in 2:08.71.
Gastaldi is a two-time European Championships medalist from this summer, having earned silvers in both the 200m IM and the women’s medley relay.
Two non-Italians made some noise on day one, with Swiss Olympic medalist Noe Ponti doing damage in the men’s 100m fly and Brazilian Gui Caribe cranking out a new meet record in the 50m free.
In the former, Ponti delivered an outing of 49.02 to set himself apart from the pack, with Simone Stefani representing the next-closest competitor in 49.46.
Edoardo Valsecchi also made it onto the podium, notching 51.02 as the bronze medalist.
Ponti now checks in as the 6th-fastest man on the planet at the moment.
| 2 | Tyler RAY |
USA | 48.47 | 10/29 |
| 3 | Luca Urlando |
USA | 48.57 | 10/29 |
| 3 | Caeleb DRESSEL |
USA | 48.57 | 10/29 |
| 5 | Tomonobu Gomi |
JPN | 48.58 | 10/12 |
| 6 | Shion Mitsunaga |
JPN | 49.09 | 10/12 |
As far as Caribe’s swim, he busted out a time of 21.20 for the new competition standard, holding off Italians Lorenzo Zazzeri and Giovanni Guatti who were relegated to the minor medal positions.
The Brazilian’s resume boasts a lifetime best of 20.57 in this splash n’ dash, courtesy of that performance he put up as the silver medalist at the 2024 edition of the Short Course World Championships.
Additional Notes
- The women’s 400m free saw Antonietta Cesarano touch first for gold, turning in a time of 4:03.96 for a new personal best. She entered this Nico Sapio Trophy owning a PB of 4:05.32 from over three years ago.
- Francesco Lazzari proved too quick to catch in the men’s 50m back, nabbing gold in 23.22. That held off Lorenzo Mora, who settled for silver in 23.36, with Michele Lamberti‘s time of 23.42 rendering him the bronze medalist.
