Quadarella wins third gold at European Championships; Ceccon, Pilato take silver

Italian swimmer Simona Quadarella has claimed her third gold medal at the European Aquatics Championships in Paris, adding the 400m freestyle title to her collection. Quadarella, a native of Rome, finished the race in 4:01.34, further solidifying her dominance at the championships where she had already won gold in the 800m and 1500m freestyle events.

The championships also saw Thomas Ceccon win a silver medal in the men's 100m backstroke. He touched the wall just one-hundredth of a second behind Greece's Apostolos Christou, who took gold. Ceccon's performance highlights a strong showing for the Italian team in the swimming events.

Another silver medal for Italy came from Benedetta Pilato in the women's 50m breaststroke. Pilato finished with a time of 29.94 seconds, also losing out on gold by a mere centisecond to Lithuania's Ruta Meilutyte. The close finishes underscore the high level of competition at the European Championships.

Italian relay teams also performed well, with both the women's and men's 4x100m medley relays qualifying for the finals. The women's team set a new Italian record in the 4x100m medley with a time of 3:57.11, featuring a national record in the opening backstroke leg by Sara Curtis. The men's 4x100m medley team secured the third-fastest time for the final.