ROME (ITALPRESS) – From the pool of the Defense Arena in Paris to the carpet of Rome’s Olympic Stadium. Many Italian swimming champions gathered last night for the now traditional appointment with the Wonderful Gala to celebrate the successes of a truly “wonderful” season for Italian swimming. The six medals (and seven fourth places) from the Olympic Games and the 37 from the Paralympic Games: all to be celebrated and remembered. “The only real regret remains water polo,” said Federnuoto President Paolo Barelli. “This is a celebration of the athletes, together Olympic and Paralympic. And after this celebration we will dive into the next events that in four years will take us to the Olympics,” added the Fin number one, who then spent special words for Gregorio Paltrinieri. “He stands in the Olympus of swimming. He is a hero of Italian sport and has the will to go on,” he said.Gregorio Paltrinieri, Thomas Ceccon, Nicolò Martinenghi, Benedetta Pilato, Simone Barlaam, Stefano Raimondi, Carlotta Gilli, and Manuel Bortuzzo, to name just a few: there were indeed all the Olympic and Paralympic stars of the “wonderful” Parisian summer. Also celebrating them were the institutional representatives of Coni, Sport and Health, City of Rome, and Finp. A long evening of celebration, an ideal continuation of the emotionally rich morning experienced by the Azzurri at the Quirinale, where the fourth-place finishers were also present. “The fourth-place movement maybe really started a little bit from me. But I hope the message of settling down didn’t get through, but just being proud of your work,” said Benedetta Pilato. And then the golds, those of Martinenghi and Ceccon, who came as a pair on the carpet at the Olympic. A medal “that makes me swim with even more lightness,” said Martinenghi; “an emotion that cannot be described in words, I’ve watched the race a couple of times again and I’ll be back to watch it,” added Ceccon, ready to “change training methods” with a view to the future.A team that “is a nice mix of experts, who keep the morale of the group high, and young people, who bring freshness. We are a very strong group of guys who are enthusiastic about what we do,” assured Paltrinieri, who does not close doors in view of the future. “Definitely getting to Los Angeles is a dream. Clearly there are many factors involved that I have to take into account, however, I would like to,” concluded the Italian.- photo Ipa Agency -(ITALPRESS).
