Filippo Magnini
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Filippo Magnini (born February 2, 1982) is an Italian swimmer, currently 100 m freestyle World Champion.
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[edit] Biography
Magnini was born in Pesaro, Marche.
As a youth he played basketball, soccer, beach volleyball and tennis, but shifted to swimming at the age of ten. His first cap with Italian Swimming National Team was in 1998. Raised as a breaststroker, after 2000 he dedicated totally to freestyle swimming,soon to achieving noteworthy results. Magnini gained his first international score in 2003, with a silver medal in 100 m freestyle at the Dublin European Swimming Championships (short course). He won more three gold medals (in the 100 m, 4x100 relay and 4x200 relay freestyle) and one bronze medal in Madrid 2004 European Championships (long course). At the 2004 Summer Olympics Magnini won the bronze medal in the 4x200 m freestyle relay, scoring 5th in the 100 m freestyle. His steady rise reached its highest point in 2005 World Aquatics Championships, when he won the gold medal in the men's 100 m freestyle with the time of 48.12, all-time second fastest behind Pieter van den Hoogenband's world record.
At the 2006 European Championships in Aquatics he won the gold medal in the 100 m and in the 4x200 m freestyle races, and a bronze in the 200 m freestyle. The following year, he defended his world championship gold medal in the 100 m, as he tied for first place with Canadian Brent Hayden in a time of 48.43, resulting in joint gold.
Magnini's nickname is "Superpippo". Pippo is the normal Italian nickname of Filippo but also of Goofy's Italian version, and therefore the complete nickname refers to the funny superhero in which the comics character transform sometimes in his Italian edition. Though generally a very fast sprinter, Magnini feels himself at best in the 100 m freestyle, where he can use at best his capability to rise in speed gradually: in this way he can reach a very high speed in the last 25 meters, where normally other swimmers begin to slow. His leg stroke is today considered world's strongest one.
[edit] Personal bests
In long-course swim pools Magnini's personal bests are:
- 100 m freestyle: 48.12 (46.52 in short course)
- 200 m freestyle: 1:47.20 (1:42.89 in short course)
[edit] External links
- Swim Rankings profile
[edit] References
- (English) Magnini Filippo on agendadiana.com
- (Italian) Magnini Filippo on Italian Swimming Federation's website
- (Italian) Magnini Filippo on nuotopedia.eu
- ^ 2004 Olympic Games swimming results. Retrieved on 2007-07-22.
- ^ Montreal 2005 Results. Retrieved on 2007-06-09.
- ^ 12th FINA World Championships. Retrieved on 2007-06-09.
- ^ Shanghai 2006 results. Retrieved on 2007-07-24.
