Italy’s Federica Pellegrini: 200m freestyle Olympic champion
Federica Pellegrini is the one of the most talented 200m freestyle Italian swimmers, who has proved her skills at various levels of competitive swimming throughout the world.
Her stupendous swimming efforts at the world’s biggest level are the proof of her hard work, with the help of which she has claimed many awards and accolades.
She made her country proud at the international stages of the Olympics, World Championships, European Championships and Summer Universiade throughout her career. Pellegrini occupied 10 gold medals, seven silver medals and five bronze medals during her international
career from 2004 to 2010.
Her international career started with the glory of 2004 Athens Olympic Games. She dominated the 200m freestyle at the National Championships and paved her way to the Olympic Games. Her fabulous swimming style placed the 22-year-old Pellegrini at the Olympic
podium for a silver medal in the 200m event.
At the 2005 European Short Course Championships in Trieste, Pellegrini competed in two individual events including the 200m and 400m freestyle. Her phenomenal efforts in the 200m event allowed her to win the gold medal, while the Italian star pocketed a
silver medal in the 400m freestyle event. In the same year at the World Long Course Championships in Montreal, Pellegrini participated in the 200m freestyle and won a silver medal with her amazing efforts.
During the 2006 World Short Course Championships in Shanghai, Pellegrini proved her eligibility for the silver crown in the 200m freestyle while she earned a bronze medal in the 400m freestyle.
The following year, she participated at the 2007 Summer Universiade in Bangkok. Pellegrini conquered two gold medals in her events of 200m and 400m freestyle, whereas her performance deteriorated at the World Long Course Championships in Melbourne and she
failed to meet the crowd’s expectations in her main event. Pellegrini won a bronze medal in the 200m freestyle at these championships. In the same year at European Short Course Championships, Pellegrini failed to defend her title of 400m freestyle and reached
the podium for the silver medal.
In 2008, Pellegrini adopted an extensive training program to improve her performances at the upcoming world stages. Pellegrini, who disappointed her fans last year, presented some spectacular swims during 2008. At first, she earned the crown for 200m freestyle
at the European Short Course Championship in Rijeka. Then, she pocketed three medals at the European Long Course Championships in Eindhoven. Pellegrini reached the podium for a gold medal in 200m freestyle, silver medal in 4*100m freestyle relay and a bronze
medal in the 4*200m freestyle relay at these championships.
At the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Pellegrini stunned the swimming world after her gold winning performance in the 200m freestyle. Pellegrini improved the World Record for the 200m event by clocking a time of 1:54.82 minutes. She comfortably defeated Slovenia’s
Sara Isakovic and China’s Pang Jiaying, who touched the wall for second and third in 1:54.97 and 1:55.05 minutes.
Pellegrini continued her dominance in 2009, where she defended her 200m freestyle title at the European Short Course Championships. She also earned two gold medals in the 200m and 400m freestyle at the 2009 World Championships in Rome.
In 2010, Pellegrini won a gold medal in 200m freestyle and a bronze medal in the 800m freestyle at the European Long Course Championships. She conquered a bronze medal in the 400m freestyle at the World Short Course Championships.
Now, Pellegrini aims to make a splash at the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai this July. She believes that she can defend her titles at the upcoming World Championships and the 2012 London Olympics.
Tags: