World Swimming Championships in Singapore: De Tullio and the relay teams reach the final. Ceccon does well.

Marco De Tullio reached the 400m freestyle final, and the 4x100m freestyle relay teams also reached the final on the first day of the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore. Costanza Cocconcelli, Thomas Ceccon, Nicolò Martinenghi, and Ludovico Blu advanced to the semifinals. Art Viberti also advanced to the semifinals. These are the results of the first heats of the World Championships, with the finals rounding out the day at 1 p.m. Italian time, broadcast live and streamed on Rai Due and Sky Sport 1.

De Tullio's performance stood out this morning, reaching the 400m freestyle final with the eighth-best time. The 25-year-old from Puglia—registered with CC Aniene, coached this year by Gianluca Belfiore—swam a time of 3:45.88 over eight lengths at an average of 28.7 seconds, with a crucial final 50 seconds of 28.60, decisive for qualification. "I'm happy to have qualified for the final," De Tullio explained. "I have the Sette Colli time in my arms and even better. It would be nice to pull off a little trick in the final. It will definitely be a very fast race. I'll try to get close to my personal best (3:44.14, ed.). It's hard to make predictions, but if I really had to, I'd be happy if German Lukas Martens won, besides being a champion and a friend. We talk often."

The relays also performed well. The women's 4x100 freestyle stood out, with Sara Curtis (53.59), Chiara Tarantino (54.59), Sofia Morini (54.36), and Emma Virginia Menicucci (54.13) finishing seventh in 3:36.67, but with a comfortable lead. "We can all give more in the afternoon," said Curtis, speaking for everyone. "I thought I could have gone faster. It's important, however, to have broken the ice, and now we're resetting for the final."

The men's 4x100m benefited from the performances of Carlos D'Ambrosio with his personal best and Italian junior category record of 47"96 (previously 48"14), Lorenzo Zazzeri (47"63), Leonardo Deplano (48"29) and Manuel Frigo (48"14) who finished in 3'12"02 and will try to defend the world silver medals from Fukuoka 2023 and Doha 2024 which preceded the Olympic bronze from Paris 2024.

Azzurri in the semi-final

Thomas Ceccon's debut is eagerly awaited, qualifying for the 50m butterfly semifinal with the eighth-fastest time. The Italian record holder (22.68) and 2023 Fukuoka World Champion—member of Fiamme Oro and Leosport, and coached by Alberto Burlina at the Federal Center in Verona—swam 23.06, slowing in the final fifteen meters. The joint-best times were Frenchman Maxime Grousset and Swiss Noè Ponti, each clocking 22.74. "I swam the time I wanted to, to the hundredth of a second. I even took a breath," emphasized the Olympic champion and 100m backstroke world record holder. "It's a race with a lot of athletes who can aspire to the podium. I think a 22.6 is a win. The starter is quite slow; staying on the block for long isn't my style; I need to get used to it. It's going to be a long week: I also need to ration my energy and manage it at least a little when possible."

Costanza Cocconcelli advanced to the 100m butterfly semifinals with the sixteenth fastest time. The 23-year-old from Bologna—member of the Fiamme Gialle and NC Azzurra 91 national teams, coached in Florence by Paolo Palchetti—finished with a solid 58.31, a fine return to 31.10, her fourth best personal best ever.

In the 100m breaststroke, Olympic champion Nicolò Martinenghi reached the semifinals with a time of 58.84, finishing third. Young Ludovico Blu Art Viberti also qualified, finishing in 59.56. "I struggled, I won't deny it, and I even felt heavy," said Martinenghi, the reigning world silver medalist. "But I swam a time I hadn't set in a while this morning. I'm over the moon about that. Now I have to focus and think about the semifinals, because the competition is fierce and we'll have to fight to get to the final. My mentality is good, and my body responded very well." Viberti was also satisfied: "Being here in this kind of competition is a great joy for me. It's always been my dream," explained the Piedmontese breaststroker. "Of course, this morning I didn't perform exactly as I wanted, but I have some margin. My goal is to compete in all the world championship events and therefore reach the final."