The Most Famous

SWIMMERS from Italy

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This page contains a list of the greatest Italian Swimmers. The pantheon dataset contains 709 Swimmers, 15 of which were born in Italy. This makes Italy the birth place of the 10th most number of Swimmers behind China, and Netherlands.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Italian Swimmers of all time. This list of famous Italian Swimmers is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Italian Swimmers.

Photo of Novella Calligaris

1. Novella Calligaris (b. 1954)

With an HPI of 41.62, Novella Calligaris is the most famous Italian Swimmer.  Her biography has been translated into 18 different languages on wikipedia.

Novella Calligaris (born 27 December 1954) is a retired Italian swimmer, and the first Italian to win an Olympic medal in swimming. Her elder brother Mauro Calligaris was also an Olympic swimmer.

Photo of Louis Handley

2. Louis Handley (1874 - 1956)

With an HPI of 38.59, Louis Handley is the 2nd most famous Italian Swimmer.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Louis de Breda Handley or Luigi de Breda (February 14, 1874 – December 28, 1956) was an Italian-born American freestyle swimmer, water polo player, and coach who coached the Women's Swimming Association of New York and won gold medals in swimming and water polo in the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis.

Photo of Federica Pellegrini

3. Federica Pellegrini (b. 1988)

With an HPI of 37.29, Federica Pellegrini is the 3rd most famous Italian Swimmer.  Her biography has been translated into 35 different languages.

Federica Pellegrini (Italian pronunciation: [fedeˈriːka pelleˈɡriːni]; born 5 August 1988) is an Italian retired swimmer. A native of Mirano, in the province of Venice, she won a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. At the 2009 World Championships in Rome (long course swimming pool, 50 m), Pellegrini became the first woman ever to break the 4-minute barrier in the 400 m freestyle with a time of 3:59.15. She also held the women's 200 meters freestyle world record (long course, 50 m). Pellegrini is the only swimmer − male or female − to have won eight medals in a row in the same event (200 meters freestyle) at the World Championships. She is also the first female Olympic swimming champion from Italy and the only Italian swimmer to have set world records in more than one event. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, she became the first female swimmer to qualify for five consecutive Olympic finals in the same specialty (200 m freestyle). She is a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Pellegrini retired from active competition in 2021. She was nicknamed "La Divina" ("The Divine") by Italian sport journalists.

Photo of Massimiliano Rosolino

4. Massimiliano Rosolino (b. 1978)

With an HPI of 32.31, Massimiliano Rosolino is the 4th most famous Italian Swimmer.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Massimiliano Edgar "Massi" Rosolino (born 11 July 1978) is an Italian retired competitive swimmer.

Photo of Filippo Magnini

5. Filippo Magnini (b. 1982)

With an HPI of 30.82, Filippo Magnini is the 5th most famous Italian Swimmer.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Filippo Magnini (Italian pronunciation: [fiˈlippo maɲˈɲiːni]; born 2 February 1982) is an Italian retired competitive swimmer who was twice 100 metres freestyle World champion and three times European champion at that distance.

Photo of Domenico Fioravanti

6. Domenico Fioravanti (b. 1977)

With an HPI of 30.67, Domenico Fioravanti is the 6th most famous Italian Swimmer.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Domenico Fioravanti (born 31 May 1977) is a retired Italian competitive swimmer who won two gold medals at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney.

Photo of Gregorio Paltrinieri

7. Gregorio Paltrinieri (b. 1994)

With an HPI of 30.53, Gregorio Paltrinieri is the 7th most famous Italian Swimmer.  Her biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Gregorio Paltrinieri (Italian: [ɡreˈɡɔːrjo paltriˈnjɛːri]; born 5 September 1994) is an Italian competitive swimmer. He is a former world record holder in the short course 1500-meter freestyle. He holds the European record in the long course 800-meter and 1500-meter freestyle events with times of 7:39.27 and 14:32.80, respectively. In the 1500-meter freestyle, he is a 2016 Olympic, three-time world long course, two-time world short course, three-time European long course, and three-time European short course champion. In the 800-meter freestyle, he is a 2019 world long course, 2022 world short course, three-time European long course, and 2021 European short course champion. In the 10 kilometre open water swim, he is a 2022 world and 2020 European champion. In the 5 kilometre open water swim, he is a two-time European champion. Paltrinieri is engaged to Olympic gold medal fencer Rossella Fiamingo.

Photo of Luca Marin

8. Luca Marin (b. 1986)

With an HPI of 29.03, Luca Marin is the 8th most famous Italian Swimmer.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Luca Marin (born 9 April 1986 in Vittoria, Province of Ragusa) is a former Italian medley swimmer. He specialized in the 400 m medley, and won ten medals at European and World Championships in this event. At the 2006 European Short Course Swimming Championships he won a gold medal, beating László Cseh, the world record holder. At the top of his career, he was trained by the Albanian coach Gjon Shyti.

Photo of Alessia Filippi

9. Alessia Filippi (b. 1987)

With an HPI of 28.49, Alessia Filippi is the 9th most famous Italian Swimmer.  Her biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Alessia Filippi (born 23 June 1987 in Rome) is a retired Italian swimmer. Filippi won the gold medal in the 1500 m at the 2009 World Championships in Rome.

Photo of Simona Quadarella

10. Simona Quadarella (b. 1998)

With an HPI of 27.37, Simona Quadarella is the 10th most famous Italian Swimmer.  Her biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Simona Quadarella (Italian pronunciation: [siˈmoːna kwadaˈrɛlla]; born 18 December 1998) is an Italian swimmer. She specializes in long distance freestyle events. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, she won a bronze medal in Women's 800 metre freestyle, and at the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, won the gold medal in the 1500 m freestyle, and the silver medal in the 800 m freestyle.

People

Pantheon has 58 people classified as Italian swimmers born between 1874 and 2005. Of these 58, 57 (98.28%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Italian swimmers include Novella Calligaris, Federica Pellegrini, and Massimiliano Rosolino. The most famous deceased Italian swimmers include Louis Handley. As of April 2024, 43 new Italian swimmers have been added to Pantheon including Louis Handley, Thomas Ceccon, and Nicolò Martinenghi.

Living Italian Swimmers

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Deceased Italian Swimmers

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Newly Added Italian Swimmers (2024)

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