The 23-year-old Ligurian, a Ducati and Ferrari fan, confirms his growth “Winning at home is creepy.” A silver medal in the 4×200 sl
history
Matteo De Santis / ROMA
He could only start at «Razzo», with a gold medal in the 400 medley, the «strongest national team ever», the investiture brought down by the godmother Federica Pellegrini. The start with a bang, in name and in fact, of these Roman Europeans, where the forecasts and forecasts do not even too improbable that Italy of swimming can compete alone almost everywhere, the reserve Alberto Razzetti going to win in one of those of the specialties in which it was believed there was some competition for the Azzurri: in 4’10 “90, one year after the surprising continental silver in Budapest, he has already become the fastest in Europe ahead of the Hungarian and European tri-champion David Verraszto, silver in 4’12 ” 58, and the other blue Pier Andrea Matteazzi, bronze in 4’13 “29 strenuously defended in the last 50 meters.
Here is served the first hero of the Roman event: a 23-year-old Ligurian from Lavagna, a fan of Ducati, Valentino Rossi and Ferrari, registered for Fiamme Gialle and Genova Nuoto My Sport, trained by Stefano Franceschi who in just fifteen months, when he decided to jump for the first time in the specialty, he became the European champion of the 400 medley.
«I have goosebumps – says« Razzo »once I got off the podium – because winning at home gives incredible joy. The most beautiful emotion of my whole life I could have done better, going down to 4’09 ”, but the important thing was to take home the gold medal. After all, I had prepared the race in this way, I didn’t lose too much in the backstroke and then I shot everything. Now I wouldn’t mind beating Luca Marin’s Italian record, it would be a great honor ».
Possible new champions are on the rise: Razzetti’s recent curriculum, already adorned with silver in the 400 and bronze in the 200 medley at the previous European Championships in Budapest, speaks of an Italian record in the 200 medley and world titles in short course in the 200 butterfly dated 2021 . For the Italy of swimming, the gold in the 400 medley, accompanied by the anything but banal bronze by Matteazzi (“An incredible joy, almost unexpected”), has all the flavor of the reconquest after 20 years: the last to rise on the roof of Europe, in Berlin in 2002, was Alessio Boggiatto.
If the blue squadron went to sleep at the end of the first day in Rome in the lead of the medal table it is also due to the very heavy silver dropped by the musketeers of the men’s 4×200 freestyle, who ended up behind only Hungary dragged in the last fraction by Kristof Milak. The second place (7’06 “25), snatched from France (bronze with 7’06” 97), bears the signatures of Marco De Tullio (1’46”47), Lorenzo Galossi (1’47”91) , by Gabriele Detti (1’46”51) and above all by an extraordinary Stefano Di Cola (1’45”36), author of the sensational final comeback. “We wanted the medal at any cost”, the mission accomplished stamp affixed by the silver quartet. Not bad as a business card. On the other hand, the best blue in these European Championships, according to forecasts, is yet to arrive. –
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