By Terin Frodyma on SwimSwam
Italian Olympic Champion and World Record holder Thomas Ceccon, who has risen to unprecedented heights in the backstroke world, still feels that the Italian swimming movement is growing, even with the reintroduction of the Russian and Belarusian swimmers.
In an interview with Italian publication Elle, Ceccon said that in the last few years, Italian swimming has grown and seen plenty of wins, largely due to the absence of Russian swimmers.
“The movement is growing, yes: there are many young people, and in recent years we’ve won a lot, especially given Russia’s absence,” Ceccon said. “This is also something I was saying: it’s true, we’ve won more also because they were missing. Winning more than that is difficult, but the fact that there’s a great movement is equally true, so I think we’re doing very well.”
Ceccon was very open about the upcoming European Championships in Paris, where he listed some of his top competitors, including France’s Yohann Ndoye-Brouard and rising South African star Pieter Coetzee. He also mentions Kliment Kolesnikov and Miron Lifintsev, though Ceccon believes they will have to prove it after the International Olympic Committee lifted Russia’s suspension last week.
Aside from France’s Ndoye-Brouard and South Africa’s Coetzee, if Kolesnikov and Lifintsev both perform well, they’ll be the strongest on the field.” Ceccon said. “Obviously, they have to prove it, but in my opinion, they’re very strong. Am I happy? Yes. If they’re not there, well, even better. I’m actually happy that we can have a final like last year’s, with all the best athletes.”
Ceccon spent time training in Australia under legendary coach Dean Boxall, where, in the interview, Ceccon said that he was very open with everyone, something he admitted he never did in Italy.
“In Australia, I’ve been very open with everyone, something I never did in Italy. I said to myself, “These people don’t know me, I’ll show them that I’m very open, that I try to talk, I make friends with everyone.” In Italy, there’s still too much of a “Yes, but you’re too strong, too weak.” There’s always a pretty tense atmosphere among athletes, which is perfectly fine,” Ceccon said in the interview with Elle. “But Australian athletes don’t care if I’m good or bad, whereas in Italy it’s the opposite. It’s fair, because I want to beat the Italian in question, not get beaten, but here, I don’t know how to put it… It’s getting more and more aggressive.”
On that same note, he drew a comparison to American swimmers, saying he has seen differences among Australian, Italian, and American athletes.
“Americans, for example, have this “they know it all, they do it all” attitude. In Italy, we all know each other, we’re all us now: I’ve never had any problems with anyone, actually, I’ve always been calm with everyone. But I’ve seen the difference.”
Ceccon then went on to describe his relationship within the Italian national team as more of a “relationship between colleagues”.
“Is it more of a relationship between colleagues, can you say “national teammates”? Then there are also friends who are on the national team. I repeat, I prefer not to have too much to do with the swimming world.” Ceccon said. “I prefer to have a couple of friends outside of swimming: they don’t go around saying, “Oh, so and so said,” they don’t care. I can talk to them about absolutely anything. In swimming, I think it’s harder, and I don’t want to be too exposed with my business in the swimming world either.”
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