Calligaris swims across the Strait of Messina: “We had fun”
“It wasn’t a race. We just had fun.” Novella Calligaris commented upon arriving on the Calabrian coast of the Strait. The crossing of the Strait was carried out on the 50th anniversary of her world record in the 800m freestyle. Calligaris arrived on the beach of Porticello to also celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Association Athletes Olympians and Azzurri d’Italia, of which she is the president. The strong current of the Strait took her much further north than the original landing point. “The time? I don’t know, but it doesn’t matter. We stopped, laughed, joked. It wasn’t a competition.” Calligaris, 68 years old, came to the beach of Porticello, famous for the bronze head of the philosopher, exhibited at the National Museum next to the Riace Bronzes, to celebrate the half century since her world record in the 800m achieved in Yugoslavia and the 75th anniversary of the Association Athletes Olympians and Azzurri d’Italia, of which she is the president. The strong current of the Strait took her much further north than the original landing point. “But it’s okay,” said Calligaris, who dedicated the crossing to her brother Mauro, her parents, and her coach Bubi Dennerlein. “I was helped by someone up there. In my opinion, my brother would have said, ‘the usual workhorse,’ and Bubi, ‘she just needed this crossing.’ And my mother would have said ‘the usual.’ “We managed to avoid the currents,” she added. “As for the time it took me, I still don’t know. But it doesn’t matter,” she responded amidst applause and compliments from those who followed her on the boat and welcomed her arrival in Calabria. “We stopped, laughed, joked. It wasn’t a competition.”
Calligaris a nuoto attraversa lo Stretto di Messina: “Ci siamo divertiti”
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