Novella Calligaris, a former swimmer and now a journalist , on 9 September 2023 will be the protagonist of a record-breaking feat attempting the crossing of the Strait of Messina.
The champion Novella Calligaris
Novella Calligaris is considered one of strongest Italian swimmers Of all times; she was the first Italian to win one Olympic medalist in swimming during the ai Munich Olympic Games in 1972, winning the silver medal and becoming the first Italian swimmer to set a world record (World Championships in Belgrade '73, 800sl). On July 31, 1973 she won well three Italian titles swimming, 200m freestyle, 200m butterfly and 400m medley.
He won other medals and titles. The champion holds 71 Italian titles, 21 European records and a world record.
After saying goodbye to swimming, which took place at a very young age for health reasons, she held positions in CONI and in other sports federations and embraced a career as a sports journalist.
Novella's new enterprise
50 years after his first record, 8'52"973 in the 800m in Belgrade, Novella Calligaris wants to accomplish another feat: swim across the Strait of Messina in order to promote theNational Association of Olympic and Italian Athletes of which he is president who turns seventy-five. An undertaking for which Novella, almost seventy years old, is preparing strenuously. The attempt to achieve this result will be made on September 9th. the champion will be accompanied by Daniele Masala, another Olympic champion. She is training in Messina and is ready to face jellyfish and currents that gave birth to the myth of the monsters of Scilla and Cariddi, swimming about 3.5 km.
Tight
It is a channel that separates Sicily from Calabria, connecting the Tyrrhenian Sea with the Ionian Sea.
It has a funnel shape and is about 33 kilometers long, while the minimum width is just over 3,5 kilometers, the maximum 16 kilometers. It is a highly seismic area crossed by currents. Over time there have been many protagonists of swimming crossings.
Good luck to our champion for this important project of hers!
cover photo from Pexel
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