Defending the Home Surf

One of the best national open water teams in the world is Italy. Italy has a great mix of proven veterans like Valerio Cleri and strong up-and-comers like Rachele Bruni (shown on left) who compete under the guidance of national team coach Massimo Giuliani.

Over the year, many of Italy's best open water swimmers have grown up swimming along the shorelines of their country, including Marco Formentini. After the 2001 World Swimming Championships in Fukuoka where he medaled, Japan, Marco said, "We knew we had an edge racing in the sea rather than in a river or a lake".

His teammate Luca Baldini added, "The sea was a bit rough; under those conditions I knew that I would have to get away very fast and be in the lead. Those behind you catch more waves."

One of the great female Italian swimmers of the past was Viola Valli (shown on left after winning the world 25K race) who often went all out from the start and held on for the finish. "I've told myself: 'I have to bring them (her opponents) to hell and leave them there.' I knew I should swim at a pace they couldn't keep up. I was succesful although I happened to nearly go to hell myself."

At the upcoming World Swimming Championships in Rome, the Italians will be competing on their home surf. Like the tough Russian Open Water National Championships in the Black Sea in June, Italy will also hold very competition World Swimming Championships qualification races in June.

The winners of the 5K, 10K and 25K races will automatically qualify for the Italian team while a second swimmer for each event will be selected by Coach Giuliani with the advice of the national technical staff.

The Italian national championships and world championship qualification races include the 5K race in Piombino on June 7th, the 10K race in Lerici on June 2nd and the 25K race in Formia on June 14th. The Italians also hold additional national championships including the 3-5K race in Milan on June 21 and the individual 5K time trial in Trasimeno Lake on June 28th.

Photos of the Italian team from the 2008 European Open Water Swimming Championships by Giorgio Scala.

Certificates of Merit - International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (2008 Recipients)

The International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame gave Certficates of Merit to 14 individuals and events during its 2008 ceremonies. These include:


1. Ted Brouwer of the Netherlands, an English Channel swimmer and trainer.
2. Marco Formentini of Italy, silver medalist in the 2007 25K FINA World Swimming Championships and bronze medalist in the 2001 5K World Championships.
3. Yvetta Hlavacova of the Czech Republic, the women’s English Channel record holder in 7 hours and 25 minutes.
4. Kalyn Keller of the USA, silver medalist in the 2007 25K World Swimming Champonships.
5. Yuri Kudinov of Russia, gold medalist in the 2007 25K World Swimming Championships and second fastest English Channel time of 7 hours and 6 minutes.
6. Flanders Marathon, a two-day event started in the 1970's with 3K and 16K swims that is now a one-day event with 2K, 5K and 10K races.
7. Scheerwolde in the Netherlands, a long-standing pioneering innovative event. The first 5K swim, the first timed race, the first relays, races with more than 30 starts, site of many Open Dutch Championships with masters and age-group races.