Roma 2022: the Italian national team officially presented at the Foro Italico

Now all that remains is to dive into the water and compete. The 36th edition of the European Aquatics Championships was presented today at the Foro Italico. The Roman pool, considered by many to be one of the most beautiful in the world, will be the centre of European aquatics from 11 to 21 August with 1,500 among athletes, coaches and team officials registered, 102 of whom will be from Team Italy. The conference was moderated by 2000 Olympic champion Massimiliano Rosolino, with a representative of the Italian national team, coaches, and technical directors attending. Immediately after the conference, everyone went to the poolside for videos, photos, and the ribbon-cutting ceremony with an exceptional patroness: Federica Pellegrini, European, world, and Olympic champion, and still women’s 200m freestyle world record holder. Pellegrini smiled, the whole Italian team smiled, and all were excited and charged also because many will have friends and relatives in the stands of the Foro Italico. And many others will compete, for the first time in a long time, in front of spectators. "We have a national team of the highest level and in which there are nine Olympic medallists, 10 world champions and 11 European champions," Italian Swimming Federation President Paolo Barelli said before greeting the Roma 2022 ambassadors: in addition to Rosolino, also Filippo Magnini and Tania Cagnotto. "I feel at home here. It is a unique emotion: I have been waiting for the European Championships in Rome for a long time and I will try to do my best both in the pool and in open water," Italian captain Gregorio Paltrinieri said. European freestyle multi-medallist Simona Quadarella from Rome, who is competing at home, said: "This is not an extra pressure for me, but a responsibility that charges me a lot". The technical director of the national artistic swimming team, Patrizia Giallombardo, added: "We are looking forward to finding out where we stand. We have worked a lot to arrive in Rome in the best possible conditions," while for the open water swimming natonal technical director Stefano Rubaudo said: "Everyone can do well, because they are in excellent form and we will compete in a beautiful setting like Ostia". Finally, the words of Oscar Bertone, national technical director of the diving team: "We are presenting a team with the right mix of young people and experts," and those of the swimming national technical director Cesare Butini: "These European Championships represent a great opportunity for Rome. We are presenting an enlarged and young team to already look to the future. We hope that these Championships will bring more and more people into sport. The goal, not declared but in everyone's mind, is beating the already excellent result of Budapest 2021, an edition that closed with 44 medals for Italy, 10 golds, 14 silvers and 20 bronze”.