Swimmer and train manager Nisato (ITA), a life between rails and lanes

If he is not speeding on a train between the rails, he is swimming between the lanes. Italy’s Nicola Nisato is a train manager and also a swimmer. "Going stroke after stroke back and forth between the lanes is like travelling along the rails all over Italy. My work and my sport are similar: for both it takes a lot of dedication, they are two time-consuming activities,” he said.

Nisato divides his time between work and sport, and by reconciling them he has found his dimension. "They are two completely opposite situations. Being in contact with people is an outlet for the time, almost two hours a day, that I spend alone during training. I thank my company and my fellow railwaymen who give me a big hand because they allow me to have the mornings or evenings free to train.”

The train manager from Mestre has spent a lifetime in the pool: "It's a passion I've had since I was a child. When I was three years old, my parents took me to swimming and I have never stopped since. When I finished my competitive career, it was my friends who encouraged me to join the masters.”

Nisato competes in the men’s 40-44 category and represents Livorno's Dopolavoro Ferroviario (after-work team). "Livorno is one of the very few realities of the Dopolavoro Ferroviario that has a swimming team at masters level and this year we became the Italian champions,” he said.

The 44-year-old swimmer is the M40 world record holder in the men’s 1500m and 800m freestyle and European record holder in the 400m freestyle, all recorded in Gwangju in 2019: "The masters give me the opportunity to visit new cities, get to know different cultures and catch up with friends I used to swim with."

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