Alice Scarabelli, from Tortona to the USA thanks to swimming

Two years ago he won the silver medal in the 4×200 relay at the Universiade «Here I have a scholarship. In general it is much easier to study and play sports “

TORTONA

From Tortona to Rutgers, state university of New Jersey: Alice Antonia Scarabelli, 23, after graduating from Milan, flew to the USA, where she attended a master’s degree in communication and media, as well as swimming with the Scarlet Knights, the nickname of the teams of the American university, which, together with Princeton, boasts the oldest football team (1869).

«I was contacted by the Italian agency College Life – explains Alice, silver medalist at the Universiade of Naples in 2019 with the 4×200 freestyle relay – and based on my sporting results I got a scholarship to move to the USA. I felt comfortable right from the start, I never felt out of place and I was able to be a tourist, especially around New York, which I fell in love with at first sight ».

A chance to grow further in an environment where sport is at a very high level: «Changing has not been overwhelming, the training sessions, sometimes even double during the day, are of a type similar to the one I’ve always been used to. – he says – Swimming, like every sport, is experienced in a different way than in Italy: I believe that children are given many more opportunities, especially to carry on sport and study at the same time, something that we lack a little and c ‘is still this legend according to which the two areas cannot be reconciled. Then boys and girls are on the same level, a sport without discrimination ».

Sports growth, but also human growth: «I have teammates from all over the world – he adds – it’s the best thing about this experience, because you can get to know new cultures, new languages. I made friends with the other Italians without a doubt, but honestly I prefer to stay with foreigners, to speak English, one of the reasons why I flew to the US. I share the house with three girls, two are Russian, the third is Brazilian and I already consider her one of my best friends ».

Rutgers is part of the NCAA Division I and is affiliated with the Big Ten Conference: «Most of the events are team events with a scoreboard. I won some races, earning valuable points for the team. In America, moreover, you compete on the distance of yards, not in meters ». Now Alice is in Tortona until January 1st: «My team will immediately go to a boarding school in San Diego, California, where we will work for two weeks in view of the second part of the season». All in the name of simplicity and spontaneity: “I feel feminine in a suit, indeed often more than with heels and a skirt”.

FRANCO SCABROSETTI