GREGORIO PALTRINIERI

NATIONALITY Italian
HOMETOWN Carpi
DATE OF BIRTH 05/09/1994
DISCIPLINE Freestyle
CLUB/COLLEGE Fiamme Oro / Coopernuoto
COACH Fabrizio Antonelli
FOLLOW GREGORIO ON
“If you’ve seen it all, close your eyes” – artist Coco Capitan

BIOGRAPHY

When Gregorio won bronze in the 10km open water at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, the Italian Swimming Federation called him “the man of miracles”.

“SuperGreg” had overcome mononucleosis which threatened his participation and he said: “It is the right reward after two months of hell. I leave Tokyo with two medals and I can feel satisfied.”

Gregorio is passionate about basketball.

He is a fan of the New York Knicks but draws inspiration from Kobe Bryant who played for the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA and was killed in a helicopter crash in January 2020.

He told Gazzetta dello Sport: “His mentality, the ‘Mamba Mentality’, was a great inspiration for me especially in the last period (of time when he was ill).”

Born in the ancient city of Carpi, he was introduced to the water by his parents at three-months-old.

He switched from breaststroke to freestyle and moved to Ostia to start a nine-year training relationship with Stefano Morini, sharing a room with double Olympic medallist Gabriele Detti.

As soon as he won gold at Rio 2016, his thoughts turned to open water.

“I love swimming in the ocean more than in the pool,” he told Olympics.com

“It’s also a long race, like a Formula One race, and you can change tactics while you’re swimming.”

In 2020, he switched coaches from Morini to Fabrizio Antonelli, saying: “I feel like the child telling his family that he is going to leave home, with all the responsibilities that follow.”

GENERAL QUICK FACTS

Favorite sportsperson or team (other than swimming)
Tennis player Rafael Nadal
Favorite vacation spot and why
New York where I feel free
Public person you admire
Former basketball player Kobe Bryant for the ‘Mamba Mentality’
Favorite book(s)/author(s)
Don Winslow who writes crime and mystery novels
Favorite artist or work of art
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Items you’d want on a desert island
Swimming goggles, a pencil and a ball
If you could be any character in fiction, who would you be?
Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean films
If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?
To be able to fly
If someone wrote a biography about you, what do you think the title should be?
Il Peso Dell’Acqua (The Weight of Water)
What you’d like to do in your life after swimming
I don’t know yet, I will let myself be surprised

SWIMMING QUICK FACTS

Proudest moment in swimming
Winning the Olympic gold medal at Rio 2016
Least favorite part of swimming
Training
Funniest moment in swimming
Winning
Favorite/least favorite training set and why
I like the sea session best but the long aerobic sets in the pool are the worst
Favorite Race/Training suits and why
Carbon suits – and especially the one that is all black - because they keep me very high on the water
Best piece of equipment and why
my Greg silver swimming cap
Favorite Food after training
Chocolate milk
Most annoying type of swimmer
The one who stresses in the warm up
Favorite Pool in the world and why
The Foro Italico in Rome because I feel at home there and it’s beautiful

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

2024 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, DOHA
SILVER Team Event Open Water
BRONZE 800m Freestyle
2023 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, FUKUOKA
GOLD Team Event Open Water
SILVER 5Km Open Water
2022 WORLD SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS, MELBOURNE
GOLD 800m Freestyle
GOLD 1500m Freestyle
2022 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS, ROME
GOLD 800m Freestyle
GOLD 5Km Open Water
GOLD Team Relay Open Water
SILVER 1500m Freestyle
2022 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, BUDAPEST
GOLD 1500m Freestyle
GOLD 10Km Open Water
SILVER 5Km Open Water
BRONZE Team Relay Open Water
2021 EUROPEAN SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS, KAZAN
GOLD 800m Freestyle
SILVER 1500m Freestyle
2020 OLYMPIC GAMES, TOKYO
SILVER 800m Freestyle
BRONZE 10Km Open Water
2020 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS, BUDAPEST
GOLD 10Km Open Water
GOLD 5Km Open Water
GOLD Team Relay Open Water
SILVER 800m Freestyle
SILVER 1500m Freestyle
2019 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, GWANGJU
GOLD 800m Freestyle
SILVER Team Open Water
BRONZE 1500m Freestyle
2019 EUROPEAN SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS, GLASGOW
GOLD 1500m Freestyle
2018 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS, GLASGOW
SILVER 800m Freestyle
BRONZE 1500m Freestyle
2018 WORLD SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS, HANGZHOU
SILVER 1500m Freestyle
2018 MEDITERRANEAN GAMES, TARRAGONA
GOLD 400m Freestyle
GOLD 1500m Freestyle
2017 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, BUDAPEST
GOLD 1500m Freestyle
BRONZE 800m Freestyle
2017 EUROPEAN SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS, COPENHAGEN
SILVER 1500m Freestyle
2017 UNIVERSIADE, TAIPEI
GOLD 800m Freestyle
GOLD 1500m Freestyle
GOLD 10Km Marathon
2016 OLYMPIC GAMES, RIO DE JANEIRO
GOLD 1500m Freestyle
2016 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS, LONDON
GOLD 800m Freestyle
GOLD 1500m Freestyle
2016 WORLD SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS, WINDSOR
SILVER 1500m Freestyle
2015 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, KAZAN
GOLD 1500m Freestyle
2015 EUROPEAN SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS, NETANYA
GOLD 1500m Freestyle
2014 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS, BERLIN
GOLD 800m Freestyle
GOLD 1500m Freestyle
2014 WORLD SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS, DOHA
GOLD 1500m Freestyle
2013 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, BARCELONA
BRONZE 1500m Freestyle
2012 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS, DEBRECEN
GOLD 1500m Freestyle
SILVER 800m Freestyle
2012 WORLD SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS, ISTANBUL
SILVER 1500m Freestyle
2012 EUROPEAN SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS, CHARTRES
GOLD 1500m Freestyle

INSIDE GREGORIO’S BAG

Cobra Core Swipe Mirror
Powerskin Carbon Core Fx Jammer
Crazy Aliens Brief
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