Thanks to this result, the Italian team will race tomorrow in the first round against Australia with Alexandra Grace Manly, Maeve Plouffe, Alyssa Polites, and Sofie Edwards, who recorded a time of 4.16.976. The winner of this match will compete tomorrow evening in the world championship final against the winner of the Great Britain and Germany (4.11.462) match.

"We didn't expect to set the best time - explained Vittoria Guazzini after the qualifications - although there was a lot of confidence. This result might give us a slightly more relaxed first round compared to the one with the Germans, even if it's too early to make any assessments. But a bit of superstition is allowed... when we won the world championship, we were in the first round against Australia..."