Federica Pellegrini

Federica Pellegrini

Personal information
Full name	Federica Pellegrini
Nationality	Italy
Born	5 August 1988 (1988-08-05) Mirano, Italy
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	68 kg (150 lb; 10.7 st)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Stroke(s)	Freestyle
Club	C.C. Aniene
Medal record Women's swimming Competitor for Italy Olympic Games Gold 2008 Beijing 200 m freestyle Silver 2004 Athens 200 m freestyle World Championships (LC) Gold 2009 Rome 400 m freestyle Gold 2009 Rome 200 m freestyle Gold 2011 Shanghai 200 m freestyle Gold 2011 Shanghai 400 m freestyle Silver 2005 Montreal 200 m freestyle Bronze 2007 Melbourne 200 m freestyle World Championships (SC) Silver 2006 Shanghai 200 m freestyle Bronze 2006 Shanghai 400 m freestyle Bronze 2010 Dubai 400 m freestyle European Championships (LC) Gold 2008 Eindhoven 400 m freestyle Gold 2010 Budapest 200 m freestyle Silver 2008 Eindhoven 4×100 m freestyle Bronze 2008 Eindhoven 4×200 m freestyle Bronze 2010 Budapest 800 m freestyle European Championships (SC) Gold 2005 Trieste 200 m freestyle Gold 2008 Rijeka 200 m freestyle Gold 2009 Istanbul 200 m freestyle Gold 2010 Eindhoven 800 m freestyle Silver 2006 Helsinki 400 m freestyle Silver 2007 Debrecen 400 m freestyle Bronze 2005 Trieste 400 m freestyle Bronze 2008 Rijeka 4×50 m medley Bronze 2010 Eindhoven 4×50 m medley Bronze 2011 Szczecin 4×50 m freestyle Summer Universiade Gold 2007 Bangkok 200 m freestyle Gold 2007 Bangkok 400 m freestyle

Federica Pellegrini (born 5 August 1988) is an Italian swimmer. A native of Mirano, in the province of Venice, she is currently the women's 200 m freestyle (long course and short course) and 400 m (long course) freestyle world record holder. At the 2009 World Championships in Rome, Pellegrini became the first woman ever to breach the 4 minute barrier in 400 m freestyle with the time 3:59.15. Pellegrini is the first female Olympic champion in the history of Italian swimming; she is also the only Italian swimmer to have set world records in more than one event.

Medals and world records

Pellegrini's first international podium was at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, where she won the silver medal in the 200 m freestyle at the age of 16, becoming the youngest athlete to have ever win an Olympic medal in an individual event in the history of Italian sports.

Pellegrini's first long course gold medal came at the 2008 European Championships in Eindhoven, where she won the 400 m freestyle setting a world record (4:01.53).

At the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, she arrived as the world-record holder and favorite for the gold medal in the 400 m freestyle, but only finished 5th in the final. On the same day, she recovered from the disappointment setting a world record in the heats of the 200 m freestyle; in the final, she broke her own world record (1:54.82) and won her first Olympic gold medal.

Pellegrini proved her strength also in short course events at the 2008 European SC Championships in Rijeka when she won the gold medal in the 200 m freestyle at world-record pace (1:51.85).

At the 2009 Mediterranean Games in Pescara, Pellegrini broke the world record in the 400 m freestyle with a time of 4:00.41 to better Joanne Jackson's record of 4:00.66.

At the 2009 World Championships in Rome, Pellegrini broke the world record again in the 400 m freestyle with a time of 3:59.15, winning the gold medal and in doing so becoming the first female swimmer to break the 4 minute barrier in the event. In 2010 Pellegrini announced that she is working with Laure Manadou's former coach, Philippe Lucas. After a very successful 2011 World Aquatics Championships in Shanghai, Federica parted ways with her French coach and has begun working with Federico Bonifacenti.

Personal bests

She currently holds 3 world records (WR), 3 European records (ER) and 10 Italian records (IR). Her personal bests (as of the 30 July 2009) are:

Event	Long course (year)	Short course (year)
50 m freestyle	25.47 (2004)	25.02 (2004)
100 m freestyle	53.55 (2009) IR	53.89 (2003)
200 m freestyle	1:52.98 (2009) WR	1:51.85 (2008) WR
400 m freestyle	3:59.15 (2009) WR	3:59.96 (2006)
800 m freestyle	8:24.99 (2010)	8:21.68 (2007)
100 m backstroke		1:00.07 (2009)
4×50 m freestyle relay		1:38.88 (2008) IR
4×100 m freestyle relay	3:40.42 (2008) IR	3:39.18 (2006) IR
4×200 m freestyle relay	7:49.76 (2008) ER	7:50.39 (2006) IR
4×50 m medley relay		1:47:05 (2008) IR
4×100 m medley relay	4:04.90 (2008) IR

External links

• Media related to Federica Pellegrini at Wikimedia Commons
• Official fan club website (Italian)

Records
Preceded by Franziska van Almsick	Women's 200 metre freestyle world record holder (long course) 27 March 2007 – 28 March 2007	Succeeded by Laure Manaudou
Preceded by Laure Manaudou	Women's 200 metre freestyle world record holder (long course) 11 August 2008 – present	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Coralie Balmy	Women's 200 metre freestyle world record holder (short course) 14 December 2008 – present	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Joanne Jackson	Women's 400 metre freestyle world record holder (long course) 27 June 2009 – present	Succeeded by Incumbent
Awards
Preceded by Stephanie Rice	World Swimmer of the Year 2009	Succeeded by Rebecca Soni
Preceded by Rebecca Adlington	European Swimmer of the Year 2009–2011	Succeeded by Incumbent