The medal collection is clear: less than 24 hours after the closing of the European Swimming Championships in Berlin, the Italian team, together with that of the host nation, is the team that has won the most medals ever after that of Great Britain.
This would be enough to be able to say that then, since the London Olympics two years ago, the athletes, managers and all the staff that work around the national swimming teams have worked well and have succeeded in the difficult task of achieving those objectives which most they are suitable for a team like the one deployed in Berlin by the Federation.
Once again it proved that continuity pays off and it makes no sense to think about “gap years” if you want to aim high. The exploit of the relay and the third consecutive victory at the European Championships in the 200m freestyle by Federica Pellegrini were the best testimony of a preparation certainly not left to chance.
The good news for Italian swimming, understood as a discipline that includes diving, synchronized swimming and swimming in open water, is that this time you can count on the group and no longer on a few individuals. We expressed ourselves well many relay races (including the "mixed" male and female), in synchronized dives from the 3-metre springboard (gold for Tania Cagnotto and Francesca Dallapé, for the sixth consecutive time at the European Championships) and we occupied two-thirds of the men's podium over long distances in the pool. Performance is also excellent synchronous and swimmers in open waters.
Also noteworthy are the performances of the so-called “freshmen“, i.e. athletes at their first experience of a European championship: Martina Caramignoli she took away the satisfaction of already taking home a bronze in the 1500m freestyle, as well as Andrea Mitchell D'Arrigo who, again on his debut, even grabbed the silver in the 400m freestyle. Not to mention Ariadne Castiglione, real baby-star of the championships (he's 17 years old), who conquered the third place in the 100 breaststroke, despite a worse time than the one done during the semifinal.
The rest of the blue team was no less: Luca Leonardi can boast a third place in a difficult race like the 100m style, Gabriele Detti followed his teammate Gregorio Paltrinieri on the podium of the 800m freestyle, as well as in the 1500m, two positions apart. In diving, Noemi Batki won her classic silver from the 10m platform.
