Natalie Coughlin claims two gold medals in Genova: 2011 Nico Sapio Trophy
The 2011 Nico Sapio Trophy got off to a strong start with the thrilling performance of Natalie Coughlin in Genova, Italy, on Tuesday, November 1. Triple Olympic medallist, Natalie Coughlin of United States went on to win two gold medals in Women’s 100m back-stroke
and 100m freestyle swimming events.
Coughlin pocketed her first gold title in Women’s 100m back-stroke event by beating Italy’s Arianna Barbieri and Roberta Ioppi with a fastest time of 56.47 seconds. More importantly, Coughlin thrashed down Missy Franklin’s previous best meet record of 56.73
seconds, set back at the 2011 FINA World Cup series, in Berlin. Unfortunately, she could not be able to beat her previous best meet record of 56.08 seconds, made at the 2010 FINA World Cup editions, in Dubai.
Natalie won two gold medals in 100m back-stroke and 4x200m freestyle events at 2004 Olympic Games, in Athens. In addition, she won one gold medal in 100m back-stroke race at 2008 Olympic Games, in Beijing. Moreover, she has grabbed seven World Championships
and eleven Pan Pacific Championships titles throughout her career.
In the meantime, Italy’s Arianna Barbieri claimed silver medal in the respective race and her compatriot, Roberta Ioppi pocketed bronze title in a mark of 1 minute and 01.11 seconds. Elisa Apostoli of Italy earned fourth position by posting a time of 1 minute
and 01.68 seconds, while Cloe Credville of France settled for fifth spot in a blot of 1 minute and 02.41 seconds.
Furthermore, Veronica Neri of Italy claimed sixth position by submitting a mark of 1 minute and 02.83 seconds and Giulia Negrini of Italy had to settle at seventh place in a mark of 1 minute and 02.99 seconds. Finally, Costanza Saletti of Italy earned eighth
position by hitting the finishing wall in a time of 1 minute and 03.78 seconds.
In addition, Coughlin claimed her second title in the Women’s 100m freestyle event by thrashing the finishing wall in a winning time of 52.80 seconds. Meanwhile, Olympic champion, Femke Heemskerk of Netherlands earned silver title in a mark of 53.20 seconds
and United States’ Kim Vandenberg pocketed bronze medal in 54.79 seconds.
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