Sport Festival, in Trento: from Pilato and Ceccon, with Pellegrini

A golden year: global and European. With a view of Venice. Because Benedetta Pilato, after having triumphed with the world and European title in the 100 breaststroke, then spent a holiday in the lagoon city, where on August 27 she married Matteo Giunta, Federica Pellegrini who on Friday 23 will be the very special star of a sport over the years it has become extremely popular thanks above all to its exploits. And this year at the Trento Sport Festival, Fede doubles. Tribute to a probably unrepeatable career: on Friday 23 at 8.30 pm at the Santa Chiara Auditorium in Trento, the Divina will talk about “my free style”. A permanent exhibition on Federica will also be set up at the Cariplo Foundation.

the Divine doubles

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Also for Faith this 2022 will remain unforgettable after the competitive retreat which took place on November 30th. Before, she was there to make the blue summers in the pool magical and on the wave, now there is a squadron that only in the lane has won 9 podiums with 5 golds (record) at the World Championships in Budapest and 35 medals at the European Championships in Rome with 13 gold (record). And to contribute to this precious booty was the trio that – on Sunday 25 September at 12.30 in the Santa Chiara Auditorium – will take the stage of the Sport Festival: Thomas Ceccon, Nicolò Martinenghi and Benedetta Pilato will alternate in the talk “Acqua Azzurra”. Benedetta frog has also become great in the 100 frog, the Olympic specialty. Growing up she moved to the double pool, the one that matters most, after taking everything in the 50 meters in which she revealed herself at 14, becoming the earliest Italian medalist at the World Championships, and at 16 the youngest Italian world record holder. At just 17 years old, the Taranto woman became a champion capable of taking the stage and now looking at the Paris Games with more confidence, even more certainty, she who is an agonist: “One year the world gold medal in the 100 is not I would have expected it “. And instead Benny goes faster and faster: he starts from internal challenges to then excel against the rest of the world. It is now a constant. And in the meantime she is studying, having fun (in her summer also the stage with Jovanotti), a point of reference within a national green line in which she is no longer the youngest, since the break-in of the sixteen-year-old Lorenzo Galossi. Benny shares with Nicolò Martinenghi the most technical specialty, the club (Aniene), the verve typical of the runners, always protagonists. It will be tantalizing to see them together with Trento to talk about swimming and more. A year ago Tete was at the Festival to talk about his bronze Olympics (in the 100 breaststroke and in the mixed relay): this year those metals have become more precious and he really understands gold even out of the water, thanks to his father goldsmith who has already created an exclusive necklace. Tete after the world gold in Budapest he got excited and excited at the European Championships in Rome for the double individual success completed by the triumph in the mixed relay. Three European golds at home: a huge amount. “I enjoyed the whole atmosphere, I couldn’t have asked for more, and now I can start the two-year course towards the Paris Games”. In 2023 he will find in the lane next to the Olympic champion Adam Peaty, whom he still considers “the number 1 in the specialty, he has the world record, but I’m getting closer, now I have more awareness of my means”. Tete (as everyone calls him) wins even when he is not at the top, he improves even when he is tired after so many races as for the 58 “26 in the 100 (the same time with which he reaffirmed the triumph of Budapest in Rome) and on the 26 ”71 which sees him ever closer to the baronet’s world championship, he is a character still to be discovered. It is one of the winning faces of this swimming that breaks through and renews itself. “We are a united team, we pull each other”. And if he thinks of a goal for 2023, he can only say “ready to break the barrier of 58”. The wonders of Tete, 23, have not finished, in short, they have just begun: a bit like Thomas Ceccon, younger than Tete at only 21 years old, more versatile than Tete having won both in the back (with the incredible world record of 51 ”60), and always quick to take over in the mixed relay. The triumphs of the 4×100 that beat the Americans and confirmed itself as the best in the European Championships now depend on their very fast changes. Ceccon was overwhelmed by popularity after making the rainbow gem. The approaches to Phelps (“no thanks, he makes other races and has won a lot compared to me”, to Spitz for the mustache (and in fact he cut them) have started. Too many comparisons to make your head spin: better a short escape to London, a new cell phone to buy and training sessions to be resumed immediately at the end of August in Verona, in the same pool where Fed was preparing his triumphs.

perfection

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The world year to come (in Fukuoka) will be even more intriguing: because after beating the Americans, now Thomas would like to beat the Russians, who are absent this season due to the war. “I still have margins, I want to improve because we still make some mistakes and I want to think about the Paris Games: until he wins the Olympic gold I will not feel satisfied”. So with that dark gaze, like an unconscious star, Thomas does not intend to deviate from his goals and shuns all temptations, distractions that you cannot afford in swimming. He prefers, for now, thanks to the help of his father, to see the videos on his competitions and those of his opponents. “To beat them I have to study them well.” So he became Ceccon …