Rowing blues: Faith & Vale in comics

VAlentina, Federica, what effect does it have to look at yourself in a comic story about the two of you, girls with monstrous determination who grow up together on the boat and, when they push it onto the waters of Tokyo 2020, will they take the first Olympic gold for Italian women’s rowing?

«The idea of ​​the comic strip is decidedly original, and we like that the message can reach many very young people, and also in schools. And then, the fact that it is a story in images will help rowing a lot, in a country where it is still confused with canoeing.” We join the lightweight double champions in their retreat, Valentina Rodini and Federica Cesarinia few days before the World Cup in Belgrade, where passes for the Paris 2024 Olympics are at stake.

Faith and Vale, from the Olympics to comics

Is called Never Stop the comic of which they are protagonists, subtitle Fede & Vale, story of a boat and a gold medal. Signed by the writer – lawyer Ester Viola, who also cures Bad relationships the mail of the heart of iodonna.itand fromillustrator Danilo Loizedda it will be there September 15th on newsstands, as a gift together with the Gazzetta dello Sport. Giuseppe Abbagnale, president of the Rowing Federation, is proud of the comic: «It is a work in which I recognized some splendid peculiarities of our rowing and the behavior of those who practice it» he says. Never Stop it was fortely wanted by Fujifilm, official partner of the Italian Rowing Federation since 2016which confirms its support for the national team’s athletes again this year.

«Fede and Vale grew up on that boat, From curious and energetic little girls they have become women of strong character, with a clear vision, capable of adapting to the most disparate conditions quickly, capable of working as a team, but also of relying solely on their own strengths” writes Luana Porfido, Head of Corporate Communication and ESG Management of Fujifilm Europe GmbH in the preface. «This is why we believe that their story can inspire many young girls to embrace sports as a further means of building their own human dimension. A unique “place”, in which they can express themselves according to their abilities and aptitudes, putting themselves out there and training for adult life. For various reasons, especially cultural, the percentage of girls who practice sports continuously compared to their male colleagues is far lower. A gap that must be filled.”

Federica, Valentina, therefore also a comic. You are two role models and inspire the younger ones. The first word that comes to mind about it.
Federica. Responsibility. I see with what wonder the little ones look at us when we enter the water.

Never Stop: «Dreaming is important»

Vale and Fede say they have become the best in the world – I quote Never Stop – «with dreams, with training, and even having a little fun».
f. Dreaming is important. It’s just that sometimes you’re afraid to dream too big. I, the gold medal in Tokyo, clearly visualized it: then I actually obtained it!

To become the best in the world, you had to combine two very different characters. Federica is said to be exuberant, direct. Valentina more thoughtful.
f. I believe I have a masculine character. Female Valentina. Valentina. In many years together, we have done important work to be able to compensate ourselves. Where one doesn’t reach, the other does.

How did you do it?
V. We went to the couples psychologist! Joke. We have been sailing together since 2017, we are together 24 hours a day, as if we were husband and wife, in fact.
f. We took a journey with a psychologist from the national team, to find a meeting point in situations of crisis and tiredness: on a boat you have to pay obsessive attention to the perfection of the technical gesture, and therefore to build solutions you risk big arguments.

And how did these couple sessions go? Have you made a close observation of the words, actions and reactions that one reserves for the other?
V. I understood that, especially in complex or tense conditions, we must make the effort to put ourselves in the other person’s shoes. Maybe she needs answers that seem paradoxical to you, but if you understand her vision it is easier for you to give the right answers in that moment.

Is banana peel always the wrong word?
V. The day I freak out for reasons that I can’t tell Fede – either because they are very mine, or because I’m tired – she comes to meet me: she leaves me alone. He’s silent.

Faith and Worth, the strength of being different

Where do we start from to transform diversity into power?
f. We have become aware of our differences and have accepted them. It is precisely because we accepted being different that we managed to become complementary.

What else did you understand about two-way balancing that changed your perspectives?
V. The fact that you can’t wait for your partner to understand that you are experiencing discomfort if you don’t tell her. I now have my own codes through which, without verbalizing, I make Federica understand that something is wrong.

Arguments, have you become good at avoiding those too?
f. Arguing is a waste of time. Better to learn to let go or build compromises.

In the comic Never Stop, the first time they share a room Vale and Fede make a pact to go far, they say “to the top of the world”. In reality, when did you realize that the two of you were prodigious together?
f. When, as under 23s, the coaches decided to let us do a test together. In rowing they say that when a crew works, it does so straight away: well, that time we were going like hell, it was the first time I felt those sensations in a double. In fact, we participated in the World Cup and it immediately went well, so we looked each other in the eyes and said: here if we train hard together, great things will happen.

For Steve Jobs the business model was i Beatles: he said that they evolved together, that the group contained the negative aspects of each… The result was, indeed, greater than the sum of the parts. In your couple, what multiplies individual talents?
V. For us there can be no doubt about the objective, nor about the strategy through which to get there. After that we are also friends, but we are clear that the boat comes before everything else.

Between you there is tenderness, understanding, attachment. Do you declare it?
f. I show no affection, zero (and they laugh). If I pat her on the back it’s important.
V. If he scratches me it’s a big day!

What do you care about the miracle of your duo?
V. The numerous injuries.
f. A month before leaving for the Tokyo Olympics, she broke a rib, so to speak. I was good first, I went boating with another girl. Then I declared it to everyone: “Okay, I don’t care, without you it’s not the same, I’m waiting for you!”.

What saves you, every time?
V. Trust in the enthusiasm and determination of the other.

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