The Italian Olympian: “Innocence has been lost. Everyone immediately thinks about medals, times and records, at any level, from kids to big names”
The wear and tear of modern swimming? Ariarne Titmus’ choice continues to cause discussion: can you leave (and why) when you’ve just turned 25? On the shock retirement of Arnie, an Australian wonder, he reflects on someone who won at the 2000 Sydney Games with two golds. And Domenico Fioravanti, the first Italian swimming Olympian, would not have retired in 2003 without heart problems. Today there are champions who quickly tire of winning, perhaps too soon.
Fioravanti, how do you judge the choice of Titmus?
“I was really surprised, and I immediately thought of the parallels with our generations, who perhaps lived a slightly carefree lifestyle. Today everything travels very quickly, especially among girls who usually come to the fore first.”
Today’s swimmers are different from those of his generation: but in what sense?
“Now everything is more frenetic, excessive. Suffice it to say that Titmus herself said that if she had known about the retirement, she would have enjoyed her last races more.”
Are they not having enough fun or are they looking for something else?
“The Australian took silver in the 200 freestyle but it’s as if she gave less weight to that medal. It seems like swimming has become almost an assembly line. Something assembled in series. Even the moments of glory are enjoyed less.”
In your opinion, Titmus’ coach, Dean Boxall, is too demanding and extreme in his methods? And did Alberto Castagnetti stress you and your companions?
“Alberto never stressed us in Verona, he never made us burden ourselves with having to obtain results at all costs. He was patient, indulgent in some cases. And so he won everything with men and women.”
If it’s not the technicians, is it the methods, the physical and mental work, or the excessive competitiveness that then causes premature rejection by the athletes?
“Before going to Castagnetti I trained in Novara with Paolo Sartori and he also knew how to find the right times to make us grow without stress but rather gradually. I remember an episode…”.
“When I was 14, I anticipated the breaststroke kick too much, it was a technical flaw that affected me later in the competition. Well, we stopped for an entire summer to correct that technical gesture. Today, who stops the athlete, who loses an entire summer to fix a setup problem? Everyone wants the result immediately, they chase it with speed, when instead we should stop and correct the mistakes: I call it an investment for the future.”
But a job that doesn’t bring image and visibility…
“Yeah, everyone immediately thinks about medals, times and records, at any level, from kids to big names.”
She was talking about girls: Alessandra Mao became absolute Italian champion at 14 and has many years left. But isn’t it that she will get tired before she becomes mature?
“I don’t know how many years Mao will swim for, honestly it’s unthinkable that it could last twenty years. Because everything is too accelerated. And where do we put adolescence? I have the impression that today’s kids no longer enjoy this important, joyful phase of growth.”
Let’s go back to Titmus: what if her retirement was an economic calculation or a search for greater popularity outside the water, on TV and in communication in a country where swimming is a national sport?
“If you think about money, then you can’t be a swimmer anymore. Exactly.”
Or did she do it to avoid tarnishing the aura of being undefeated in the 400 freestyle from 2019 to 2024, perhaps fearing losing at the Los Angeles Games to Ledecky or the emerging Canadian Summer McIntosh?
“Who knows if she thought that the next Los Angeles 2028 Olympics might be too demanding for her, and that she wasn’t willing to lose that condition. In Australia, being a heroine of a national sport, she will have experienced greater attention and pressure.”
Did Titmus, as a girl who grew up in a quiet place like Tasmania, no longer want to accept these pressures?
“Were you looking for a less hectic life?”
And to think that you were instead forced to retire in 2003 due to eligibility…
“This is a difficult experience to face and manage.”
What doesn’t add up to you in this story?
“There is a lack of training for young people who win too early. We swimmers, apart from a few exceptions, are not used to being catapulted into a reality that immediately offers you fame and wealth. Therefore many get lost.”
Will Titmus change her mind and perhaps return to the Brisbane 2032 Games?
“I don’t have an excellent memory, but of the great winning returns at the Olympics only one managed to win gold again after years: the American Anthony Ervin, at 35 but in his 50s.”
And so his final moral?
“Swimming is a sport of continuity, it is very difficult to find certain performances and sensations again if you decide to stop”.
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