Filippo Magnini
Encyclopedia
Filippo Magnini is an Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 swimmer, who was two times 100 m freestyle
Freestyle swimming
Freestyle is an unregulated swimming style used in swimming competitions according to the rules of FINA. The front crawl stroke is almost universally used during a freestyle race, as this style is generally the fastest...

 world champion.

Biography

Magnini was born in Pesaro
Pesaro
Pesaro is a town and comune in the Italian region of the Marche, capital of the Pesaro e Urbino province, on the Adriatic. According to the 2007 census, its population was 92,206....

, Marche
Marche
The population density in the region is below the national average. In 2008, it was 161.5 inhabitants per km2, compared to the national figure of 198.8. It is highest in the province of Ancona , and lowest in the province of Macerata...

.

As a youth he played basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

, soccer, beach volleyball
Beach volleyball
Beach volleyball, or sand volleyball, is an Olympic team sport played by two teams of two players on a sand court divided by a net.Like volleyball, the object of the game is to send the ball over the net in order to ground it on the opponent’s court, and to prevent the same effort by the opponent....

 and tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

, but shifted to swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...

 at the age of ten. His first cap with Italian Swimming National Team was in 1998. Raised as a breaststroke
Breaststroke
The breaststroke is a swimming style in which the swimmer is on his or her chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style due to its stability and the ability to keep the head out of the water a large portion of the time. In most swimming classes, beginners learn...

r, after 2000 he dedicated totally to freestyle swimming
Freestyle swimming
Freestyle is an unregulated swimming style used in swimming competitions according to the rules of FINA. The front crawl stroke is almost universally used during a freestyle race, as this style is generally the fastest...

, 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, 4×100 m relay and 4×200 m relay freestyle) and one bronze medal in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

 2004 European Championships (long course). At the 2004 Summer Olympics
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

 Magnini won the bronze medal in the 4×200 m freestyle relay, scoring 5th in the 100 m freestyle. His steady rise reached its highest point in 2005 World Aquatics Championships
2005 World Aquatics Championships
The 2005 World Aquatics Championships or the XI FINA World Championships were held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from July 16 to July 31, 2005...

, when he won the gold medal in the men's 100 m freestyle with the time of 48.12, then all-time second fastest behind Pieter van den Hoogenband's
Pieter van den Hoogenband
Pieter Cornelis Ruud Martijn van den Hoogenband is a Dutch former swimmer and a triple Olympic champion.-Personal life:...

 world record.

At the 2006 European Aquatics Championships he won the gold medal in the 100 m and in the 4×200 m freestyle races, and a bronze in the 200 m freestyle. The following year, he defended his world championship
Swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships
The swimming competition at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships was held in Melbourne, Australia, from 25 March to 1 April.Morning/heats sessions began at 10:00 a.m., with the evening sessions beginning at 7:00 p.m. All events were contested in a long-course pool...

 gold medal in the 100 m, as he tied for first place with Canadian Brent Hayden
Brent Hayden
Brent Matthew Hayden is a Canadian swimmer.Hayden was born and raised in Mission, British Columbia and started swimming when he was five. In his youth, he earned a blackbelt in Isshin Ryu karate. He attended the University of British Columbia for one year...

 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
Goofy
Goofy is a cartoon character created in 1932 at Walt Disney Productions. Goofy is a tall, anthropomorphic dog, and typically wears a turtle neck and vest, with pants, shoes, white gloves, and a tall hat originally designed as a rumpled fedora. Goofy is a close friend of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck...

 Italian version, and therefore the complete nickname refers to the funny superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...

 in which the comics character transform sometimes in his Italian edition.

Personal bests

In long-course swim pools Magnini's personal bests are:
  • 100 m freestyle: 48.04 (46.52 in short course)
  • 200 m freestyle: 1:47.20 (1:42.89 in short course)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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