In the last 12 years, Italian swimming has recorded growth that can be divided into two phases: the first, longer, made up of exploits by individual athletes and the second, very recent, consisting of an almost sudden surge in the level of the entire group of the selection guided by the technical director Cesare Butini.
In 2022, for example, Italnuoto has arrived at the top of the medal table of the European championships, with a contribution from pool swimming of 35 medals out of 72, of which 13 were gold. The rise is still unstoppable and these Olympics certainly confirm the Magic moment of the Italian athletes of this sport. The double fourth place of Simona Quadarella, in the 1500 and 800 freestyle races or the missed podium of Blessed Pilate, they must not deceive those who observe the results of the races: Italy is there and is completing its "climb to Parnassus". The Italian national swimming team is now firmly among the top 15 teams worldwide in terms of medals won at the Olympics.
The reason for this progression? Certainly the great investment the federation made on runners who, in turn, invested in young. Direct testimony to this investment is, just to mention some recent cases, Ceccon and Martinenghi themselves, but also Paltrinieri and Quadarella herself.
The author of this article was in the team (Aurelia Nuoto) for a long time with Simona Quadarella's coach, Christian Minotti, while Cesare Butini was their coach for the "important races". In the 90s there were no youth swimming world championships (the first edition was organized in 2006, in Brazil and it was Italy who won!), so the young promises, on an international level, competed at most at the "European junior championships" and , at a national level, they participated in the so-called "Criteria" (national category championships). Showcases which, however, were enough for Cesare Butini to carry out that difficult activity which is the selection of the champions of the future. Today, as then, this activity makes the difference and only those with long experience in the field can aim to obtain high-level results. Butini started by selecting the best swimmers within many nurseries for the "first team" of Aurelia Nuoto, then he moved on to select boys and girls for the "national youth team" and now, whenever there is one occasion, reiterates how important the youth movement is in swimming.
It is no coincidence that, at the recent European youth swimming championships in Lithuania (from 2 to 7 July 2024), the Italians won an impressive 25 medals, of which 13 were gold. Well 9 gold medals behind the second-placed national team in the medal table (Hungary). This really bodes well for the years to come: le new generations they are ready to replace the old ones. You just need to know how to give them the right importance.
