Gregorio Paltrinieri’s Endless Dreams

Gregorio Paltrinieri is a champion without equal. He could stop to count the medals he has amassed over a 15-year career; he could settle down on a deckchair next to Rossella when she returns with her gold from the World Fencing Championships and enjoy a bit of a rest by the sea. Instead, he’s always here, ready to dive once more into the Seine – one of his worst memories – to chase more European medals. As if he could never have enough. He’s won five at the Olympic Games, 19 at the World Championships and 20 at the European Championships, counting only long-course and open-water events. Then there are also those in short-course, at the Universiade or the Mediterranean Games. Living on memories wouldn’t be such a bad thing. Yet here he is, still swimming like a schoolboy. “Happiness is continuing to have a dream, continuing to have a goal. Working towards that makes me proud, it makes me happy,” he explains. A statement which, in its simplicity, reveals the man behind the athlete. A young man who has always made hard work his creed. “I was lucky enough to realise early on that I could swim well. But I also realised straight away how important consistency, precision and daily training were. That has stayed with me throughout my career.” His strength has not just been in winning. It has been in persevering.

“The hardest thing was always finding my place, even when stronger swimmers came along or I was going through difficult times. I didn’t want to be a flash in the pan. I’ve always tried to work out when to push, when to hold back, and when to recover. This ability to manage myself has allowed me to last so long.” To explain his longevity, Paltrinieri looks beyond swimming. His role models are those who have stood the test of time without ever ceasing to compete at the very highest level. Novak Djokovic, Lewis Hamilton – athletes capable of reinventing themselves when their bodies no longer respond as they did in their twenties and their opponents start to be under twenty and seem to have an endless supply of energy. “I draw inspiration from those who are already doing it. I look at Djokovic and wonder how he manages to stay so motivated after everything he’s won. When you’re used to winning and suddenly the youngsters come along and overtake you, it’s a blow. The difference lies in being able to start afresh every time. Even Lewis, whom I’ve always admired, is still there, second in the championship and fighting on, despite last year’s setback. It really shows the calibre of the athlete and the man.”

It is inspired by them that Greg is here swimming, with his sights set on Los Angeles 2028, his fifth Olympics. “I see the European Championships as an important milestone. They help you gauge where you are in your preparation, but the main goal remains the Olympics. Not least because I haven’t qualified yet and next year will be decisive.” In Paris, he will swim only in the Seine, giving the pool events a miss. It’s a shame that the French are holding the events right on the river. “We’d sent a letter signed by almost all of Europe’s top athletes. We didn’t want to compete in the Seine and had asked to use Plan B. They listened to us, but they stood their ground. It’s not just a one-day competition. It’s four days of racing, and then many of us have to head to the pool. If you fall ill, you risk jeopardising everything.” We should be swimming in a better, cleaner stretch of water. “The risk, however, remains extremely high. After the Games, people were hospitalised with E. coli. I keep asking myself why we don’t use one of the many lakes near Paris.” His is also a battle of principle. He can’t stand the fact that athletes’ voices still carry so little weight. “We have little say in the matter and I don’t understand why. Sooner or later, this will have to change. In other sports, athletes are listened to much more.”

Let’s rewind a bit. On 14 August, it will be 10 years since he won gold in the 1,500-metre freestyle in Rio. A fond memory, but not his most cherished one: “There was too much pressure in Rio. That victory was almost a relief. And then I carried on having nightmares for a long time. Every night I’d dream that I still had to start the race.” He’d wake up, see the medal and go back to sleep. The medals he cherishes most are others. “The races I enjoyed the most, however, were the ones in Tokyo. I wasn’t even supposed to be there; I was feeling absolutely awful, yet I still managed to win two medals.” Mononucleosis had hampered his preparation and turned those Olympics into a battle against his own body. “When you don’t expect a medal and it comes after overcoming so many difficulties, perhaps it stays with you even more.” Even the little boy who’d started swimming with his father thought of nothing but that goal. “Olympic gold has always been my dream. If you’d asked me when I was little, that’s what I’d have said. I never really doubted I could get there.” And now he has no doubt he can try again. Perhaps only in open water, where he swims more freely and enjoys himself more: “For fifteen years in the pool, I always won a medal. Maintaining that level of concentration was becoming very tiring, more mentally than physically. Long-distance swimming, on the other hand, is different: so many things happen, you can approach the race in different ways, and that continues to be fun for me.”

The Paris Games gave him a new lease of life. “After Paris, I decided to carry on because I’d shown there that I could still compete with the best. I broke my elbow, my foot and a finger – I’ve been through a lot – but I thought I could stay competitive right up to Los Angeles.” The way he approaches a race has changed too. Over the two hours of a 10-kilometre race, you can’t constantly push yourself to the limit. “There are moments when you have to go on autopilot. You have to conserve as much energy as possible. Then come the decisive phases – the ones where you have to make decisions, change pace, and attack. You make the difference precisely because you’ve managed to be efficient beforehand.” It’s the same principle he applies in training. He’s always sung to himself whilst swimming. “It’s a sort of meditation. If you don’t constantly think about the effort, you feel it even less. This morning we’d been listening to Vasco Rossi and his songs stuck in my head whilst I was in the water. It could be any song; it just helps you get into that flow where everything becomes natural.” If he could go back in time, what advice would he give to the 18-year-old Gregorio? “I’d tell him not to always strive for perfection. We insist on wanting to be 100 per cent, but you can achieve results even without being that. You don’t have to be perfect. You have to be ready to fight.”

His commitment, however, would never change. “I’ve always had self-belief. Perhaps even too much, but better too much than too little. And then there’s the daily grind. I’ve never thought there was a shortcut to winning.” It’s a way of life that has ended up rubbing off on those who train with him too. Despite practising an individual sport, Paltrinieri has sought out the group. “I’ve always trained with twenty people. Many prefer to be on their own, but I’ve always needed others. It’s true, I might pass something on to my teammates, but they give me so much in return. Daily competition helps us all grow.” This philosophy also gave rise to Dominate the Water, the open-water racing circuit he continues to promote. “My aim is to raise awareness of the sea. Knowing how to swim is essential, but you also need to understand that the sea can be unpredictable. I’ve found myself in trouble too. We want to bring people closer to this sport and create that spirit of camaraderie you feel at the big marathons.” All that remains is to give a little thought to his relationship with Rossella Fiamingo and a wedding that’s on the cards, but there’s no rush. “We’re thinking about it, of course. We’re really happy together. It’s just that she’s at the World Championships, I’m in Paris, and we’re always trying to juggle our schedules. There’ll be a time for that too.” Pink flowers, peach blossoms. Who knows, perhaps after his next dive, Battisti might spring to mind.