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, 58 of which were born in Italy. This makes Italy the birth place of the 6th most number of Swimmers behind United Kingdom, and Russia.

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 Tity Dumbuya

1. Tity Dumbuya (b. 2003)

With an HPI of 55.38, Tity Dumbuya is the most famous Italian Swimmer.  Her biography has been translated into 19 different languages on wikipedia.

Photo of Novella Calligaris

2. Novella Calligaris (b. 1954)

With an HPI of 48.65, Novella Calligaris is the 2nd most famous Italian Swimmer.  Her biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

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 Federica Pellegrini

3. Federica Pellegrini (b. 1988)

With an HPI of 46.60, 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 former province of Venice (Metropolitan City of Venice since 2015), 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 Louis Handley

4. Louis Handley (1874 - 1956)

With an HPI of 46.49, Louis Handley is the 4th most famous Italian Swimmer.  His biography has been translated into 16 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 Domenico Fioravanti

5. Domenico Fioravanti (b. 1977)

With an HPI of 42.25, Domenico Fioravanti is the 5th most famous Italian Swimmer.  His biography has been translated into 20 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 Massimiliano Rosolino

6. Massimiliano Rosolino (b. 1978)

With an HPI of 41.71, Massimiliano Rosolino is the 6th most famous Italian Swimmer.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

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

Photo of Thomas Ceccon

7. Thomas Ceccon (b. 2001)

With an HPI of 41.38, Thomas Ceccon is the 7th most famous Italian Swimmer.  His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Thomas Ceccon (Italian pronunciation: [ˈtɔːmas tʃekˈkon]; born 27 January 2001) is an Italian swimmer. He is a world record holder in the long course 100 metre backstroke and the short course 4×100 metre freestyle relay. He is also the Italian record holder in the long course 50 metre backstroke and 50 metre butterfly. He is the 2022 World champion in the 100 metre backstroke and 2022 European champion in the 100 metre backstroke and 50 metre butterfly. In the 100 metre individual medley, he won the gold medal at the 2022 World Short Course Championships and the bronze medal at the 2021 World Short Course Championships. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, he won a silver medal in 4×100 metre freestyle relay, a bronze medal in the 4×100 metre medley relay, placed fourth in the 100 metre backstroke, and placed twelfth in the 100 metre freestyle. On 29 July 2024 he won gold for the 100m backstroke in the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Photo of Gregorio Paltrinieri

8. Gregorio Paltrinieri (b. 1994)

With an HPI of 41.01, Gregorio Paltrinieri is the 8th most famous Italian Swimmer.  Her biography has been translated into 29 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.

Photo of Luca Marin

9. Luca Marin (b. 1986)

With an HPI of 40.44, Luca Marin is the 9th 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 Filippo Magnini

10. Filippo Magnini (b. 1982)

With an HPI of 40.21, Filippo Magnini is the 10th most famous Italian Swimmer.  His biography has been translated into 17 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.

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 Tity Dumbuya, Novella Calligaris, and Federica Pellegrini. The most famous deceased Italian swimmers include Louis Handley.

Living Italian Swimmers

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Deceased Italian Swimmers

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