Swimming, Sky: ‘Italy is a world power with Ceccon, Miressi and Martinenghi’

What is the fastest man in the world doing in Italy? The Brazilian Cesar Cielo, Olympian, world champion and since 2009 record holder of the 50 sl in 20 “91, continues his tour started from Salerno, passed through Turin and Lodi, to end it on Tuesday in Grosseto: hundreds of kids swam with the South American champion who he alternated between practical and theoretical lessons. Organized by ToSwim and Vadox (managed by Luis Alberto Laera) the Cesar Cielo Swim Clinic is a special immersion in speed in the water “three hours exclusively with the man of records”. A nice opportunity to compare with a great champion, now 35 years old, 3 Olympic medals (gold in Beijing in the 50 sl), 6 world golds (12 in short course with 5 golds) who always loves to return to Italy and boasts an Italian passport having the grandfather of Sovizzo (the center of Vicenza from where Lodovico Cielo sailed, to emigrate to South America a hundred years ago, and the swimmer’s mother, Flavia, has Sicilian roots).

“I do a lot of things, I deal with business, organizations, methodology, I teach swimming to swimming communities, I do motivational conferences, and I train twice a week. In short, my days are full “.

On August 13 in Rome, he lost the world record of 100 sl, set by the Romanian Popovici in 46 ”86. What did he feel?

“Popovici, like many others, tried to take my records off me and I was prepared; since 2017 with the advent of Dressel my records have wavered. Without the pandemic, the American would have done them before, but the Australian Chalmers has also tried several times. When the boy did it at the European Championships in Rome, it was also something poetic: after all, he took it from me in the same pool where I had made it in 2009 at the World Cup. It was an honor to have defended that record for a long time and that a 17-year-old boy like Popovici, really talented and only at the beginning of his epic, took it away from me. You will see him improve again in 2023: he will strengthen himself physically and put on more muscles. It will only be necessary to understand how far he will go, what his limits will be; But he will be able to resist at the top for a long time, to me he seems different from all the others ”.

“The horizontal position of the body in the water”.

“It is part of a different generation from ours, it is the smart one of mobile phones. Today it is difficult to talk to young people, to understand their attitudes and behaviors: there is much more access to information. Our world was much more romantic ”.

What don’t you like about the kids now?

“If I think of your Rosolino, Magnini, Pellegrini, champions of depth, from another world. They like me had clear goals, they focused on the result by working hard and having a lot of discipline in training. To today’s kids I teach just the way in which to behave in the pool, what discipline and sacrifice in work really are. The mistake that young people often make today is that everything can come easily, while instead you have to dedicate yourself totally to work ”.

By the way, how do you see Italian swimming?

“Italy is incredible, it has become a world power, one of the strongest in the world after the USA and Australia. I like Thomas Ceccon and Alessandro Miressi, who has swam the 100 sl many times in 47 ”5, if he drops to 47” he can also get a medal at the Olympics. He is ready to challenge the three favorites, Popovici, Dressel and Chalmers. Ceccon also swam 47 ”, I really like Martinenghi in the breaststroke: Italy has a crazy mixed relay.

She denied the final of the 100 sl in Beijing, snatching the last place from Magnini and then took the bronze, became famous for the cry of gold in the 50.

“What experiences, days, emotions”.

What kind of experience are you having in Italy these days?

“There is a constant exchange of information and I am thinking of bringing many Brazilians to camp with you so that they can grow. Italy and Brazil can have even stronger teams, and I’m getting to know the Italian coaches, I’ve seen hundreds of enthusiastic kids, they tell me with numbers never seen before for a Clinic in Italy. We have many common working methods. Yes, I like all this, teaching Italians to go faster in the water gives me a lot of joy and happiness “.