Home wins for Arjola Trimi and Simone Barlaam at World Series

Italian dominate the women's and men's 50m freestyle finals in Lignano 27 May 2018 By Adam Bailey | For the IPC

There were home wins for Italy’s Simone Barlaam and Arjola Trimi on day three of the World Para Swimming World Series in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy, on Saturday (26 May).

The Italian leg of the World Series – the fourth of this year’s competition – features swimmers from 31 different countries, and Barlaam and Trimi both fought-off competition from some of the best international athletes to claim victory in the men’s and women’s 50m freestyle finals.

Barlaam (S9) was one of six world champions to make the men’s final, and the 17-year-old continued his rise in World Para Swimming, topping the standings in Lignano Sabbiadoro with 1019 points.

Brazil’s S10 world champion Phelipe Andrews Melo Rodrigues (1007 points) finished second and Belarus’ S13 world champion Ihar Boki (996 points) finished third.

The Italian crowds didn’t have to wait long for another Italian victory as Arjola Trimi (S4) won gold in the women’s final with 1000 points.

The 31-year-old was joined on the podium by her compatriot Carlotta Gilli (S13, 979) who finished third to win her fourth medal of the competition, just behind Canada’s Aurelie Rivard (S10, 984 points) who claimed silver.

Rivard was back in action 40 minutes later; swapping the ‘splash and dash’ of the 50m freestyle for the longest event of the weekend – the 400m freestyle. The Canadian secured another podium finish, scoring 931 points to collect bronze.

The event was won by the USA’s Rebecca Meyers (S12), who missed out on gold in the 200m individual medley on Friday by just one point. 24 hours later, Meyers ensured she leaves Italy with gold, finishing ahead of Italy’s Xenia Francesca Palazzo (S8, 939 points) to secure the 400m freestyle victory with 984 points.

Japan’s Uchu Tomita (S11) was victorious in the men’s event after his swim earned 965 points. Tomita was joined on the podium by the Spanish pair of Jacobo Garrido Brun (S9, 918 points) and Antoni Ponce Bertran (S6, 902 points), who claimed silver and bronze respectively.

The Lignano Sabbiadoro World Series concludes on Sunday (26 May) with the 50m and 100m butterfly, and the 150m individual medley.

Both the heats and the finals will be live streamed on World Para Swimming’s website, with full results available here.