Mahila Spennato Sets Italian Junior Record, Qualifies for European Championships

Having secured the new Italian junior record in the women's 5 km established on the opening day of the Italian absolute championships in Riccione, the very young Mahila Spennato, born in 2009, from Lecce who arrived at Rari Nantes Florentia last September trained by Lorenzo Palagi and Luca Pagliazzi, has earned from the federal coaches the official pass for the 1500 freestyle for the next European junior championships scheduled in Samorin, Slovakia, from 1 to 6 July. This, however, is just a pearl that the lily club of president Andrea Pieri has shown off at the Romagna Tricolors, which ended with a very positive balance, with fourth place overall in the women's ranking and fifth in the men's, demonstrating the solidity and ambition of a group in which talent and experience coexist in great harmony, with an eye to the future.

Competing with 29 athletes - 25 members and 4 military personnel (Zazzeri, Megli, Biagiotti, Biagioli) - Florentia has collected five overall medals in the top category, including four individual and one relay. Among the protagonists, Lorenzo Zazzeri stands out, having won silver in the 50 and bronze in the 100 freestyle, confirming himself as one of the best Italian sprinters; a performance to be framed also for Filippo Megli, who returned to the top in the 200 freestyle, where he earned a well-deserved silver medal.

In the women's field, the spotlight was on Emma Vittoria Giannelli, second in the 800m freestyle with a time of 8'33“53, a new club record, and on Matilde Biagiotti, who added silver to her tally in the 200m freestyle.

Rounding out the medal table is the silver relay in the 4x200 freestyle, composed of Giulia Pascareanu, Bianca Nannucci, Azzurra Sbaragli and Giannelli: a quartet that reaffirms the very high quality of the red and white youth sector. Finally, the international passes for Giannelli and Nannucci, who will fly to the European Junior Championships in Samorin (together with Spennato and Pascareanu) and the World Junior Championships in Otopeni, Romania, from 19 to 24 August, completed the balance.

Franco Morabito