Nicolò Martinenghi has learnt to get angry

The news is that even Nicolò Martinenghi gets angry and, by his own admission, this happens quite often. Yet he manages to hide it perfectly, as it’s hard to see him without a smile on his face. “I tend to hide my irritation, especially when I realise there’s no point in sulking at others. After the 2024 Games, I said that I could truly be Nicolò – the athlete and the person. There’s no difference, but there’s a more private side that I keep to myself.”

When it is pointed out to him that, for example, Jannik Sinner loses his temper if he is beaten at burraco, he reveals: “I’m a born competitor and always have been, even at cards, but now I take defeat with more composure… I win, but I also lose a lot.”

In the water, however, he often savours success, as was the case at the 2026 European Championships in Paris, where he won two golds in the 100 and 50 breaststroke, after months in which, due to physical problems, he had barely set foot in the pool. “When I returned to competition at the Settecolli in Rome, my very presence was already something special; I hadn’t expected to be there, but I knew I was on the right track. Right up until Paris, I did the work Matteo (Giunta, ed.) asked of me in the pool and the lads in the gym to the best of my ability.”

“I was aware that it hadn’t been the most comprehensive year in terms of training, but I worked perfectly and that gave me a lot of confidence. In France, everything fell into place… in sport, everything happens almost like a chain reaction.” He cannot say whether it was special to have surprised himself, but he quotes a lesson learnt from captain Paltrinieri: “I thought back to Gregorio’s words, spoken at a meeting a few years ago, when he said that it’s not the journey to a competition that counts, but what you’re capable of doing once you’re there. Matteo and I focused on the present, without thinking about what I might have done differently or what might have gone wrong. In the end, I approached the event as I always do.”

What was striking, apart from his victory in the 100m breaststroke – a distance in which he is an Olympic champion – was also his success in the 50m. “For a few years now, it hasn’t really ‘clicked’ for me; there’s always been a love-hate relationship with it. It’s the event that launched me to the top level, even though I’m a 100m specialist. I won my first individual international medal in the 50m. I’ve always had mixed feelings about it, because for me it’s a race driven by instinct, one that depends on the day – it’s very strange. In Paris, I just happened to be there, needing to win for Italy: it was a mix of luck and skill.”

One might say that champions come to the fore when they have to prove themselves, not only in competition but also when dealing with critical situations. “You don’t know how to deal with long-term injuries, especially as time goes by and you have to find the will to throw yourself back into recovery… These are things that wear you down in the long run. At first, I was very calm; I didn’t think it was an injury that would take a long time to recover from. When I realised the extent of it, I wasn’t happy, but little by little I learnt that, deep down, it’s just a stage in a journey. You have to get back on track, trust the right people. You restart a machine, as if it were an emergency generator when the power goes out, and then you’re back on the road. The physical part is simple; the mental part isn’t.”

So how does the Italian breaststroke swimmer tackle difficulties? Sport, once again, lends a helping hand: “In the heat of the moment, we all have the same reaction, but the difference lies in what comes afterwards – in the way you analyse and deal with things – and this stems from a competitive mindset. I see the glass as half full; I know that somehow everything will work out – it’s up to me to figure out how.” It is somewhat akin to being in the pool, when an athlete is behind and must execute a strategy. Or when an athlete is far from the lanes and, as time passes, gradually becomes a point of reference, as at the 2026 European Championships, when Martinenghi was captain. “In this role, I’ve started thinking about various things… My early experiences, what brought me here. These are additional thoughts that make you realise we live in a bubble. Swimming has been a fundamental part of my life since my teenage years; perhaps I’d try other things too, but I’d do it all again. As captain, you feel the joy of passing on what you know. You’ve got your own race, but you’re mindful of everything: at the European Championships there were more than 40 of us, and the youngest was Alessandra Mao, aged 15, whilst the others were over 30 – it’s a wide age range, but you have to keep the group united. What would I have told myself as captain years ago? I’d have a few things to say about certain matters, but all the choices I’ve made have led to something good. I’m truly enjoying the journey and, above all – something that goes beyond records and medals – the relationships I’ve built.”

Speaking of living life to the full, it is natural to wonder, in a life where we are constantly chasing performance and excellence, whether we really manage to appreciate our achievements or whether they simply become medals tucked away in a trophy cabinet. “Ours is a performance-driven sport. Before the European Championships, I promised myself that, if I won, I’d savour it to the full; all too often, you’re overwhelmed by emotions. I don’t know how many more times this will happen to me.”

Martinenghi emphasises how important it is to express not only one’s emotions but also one’s talent in the right way. In this regard, Bob Bowman, Léon Marchand’s coach, explained how easy it is to ‘ruin’ talent. The breaststroke swimmer reflects on this and states: ‘It’s an asset to capitalise on. You mustn’t just assume you have it and leave it at that. I consider myself talented, but there are those who are even more so. You have to train to know how to showcase it: there are those who have that extra something in training, but not in competition. It’s tricky to bring it out, and that alone isn’t enough – you have to add something of your own.” Martinenghi intends to apply that approach at least until the 2028 Los Angeles Games; after that, he adds: “I’ll be competing in Poland next (in November, ed.), then the Italian Championships and the World Short Course Championships. The goal is LA, and then we’ll take stock. Lately I’ve been thinking about the future, but I still enjoy swimming; I don’t want to focus too much on what comes next. There are lots of things on my mind – new career opportunities… But there are also plenty of top-level swimmers who have had long careers; perhaps I’ll be one of them.”