Wednesday,
January 30, 2008
Italian Swim Team Tragedy of
The
ANNOTICO Report
42
years ago this week , in 1966 , the entire Italian Swim Team was lost in
a plane crash upon landing in Bremen, Germany to compete in the 'Bremen Internationale' which was second in importance only to the
Olympics. (Seven swimmers plus the coach)
This
disaster was the worst in Italian sports history since a plane crash at
The
only Italian swimmer to survive was Daniela Beneck,
then
The Tragedy Of
There are many tragic events from sporting history but few
are more moving than the moment when an entire Italian swimming team was
lost in a plane crash this week back in 1966.
Today, courtesy of the recollections of Georges Kiehl, French international of the Sixties and spokesman
for the European Swimming League, we remember those who lost their lives and
the pay homage to a man who paid his respects in a special way.
First, in the words of Georges Kiehl:
BREMEN 1966 - Back in the Swinging Sixties, swimmers had
far fewer opportunities to compete at the very highest international level
as is the case today: the Olympic Games every four years, with European Championships
in between, and also every four years in those days. There were also dual meets
and tournaments organised by federations but there
was almost no meet at which Europeans, Americans, Australians and Japanese
could compete against each other besides the Olympic Games.
You can imagine, then, the high regard in which the '
In 1966, European swimmers were training hard for the upcoming
European Championships to be held in
The dates of the meet are etched on my memory: Saturday 29th
and Sunday 30th January, 1966. As usual, all swimmers trained in the small, 25m
pool (6 lanes) on the Friday afternoon. We noticed that the Italian
contingent was absent. News filtered in: the rumour
was that their plane had crashed at
What would Fricke do? Cancel the meet? Not
at all. Neither were the heats re-seeded.
Instead, he believed that the best way for us all to pay our respects was to
let the show go on and acknowledge the painful absence of the Italians. For
the next two days, the lanes that would have been graced by many in line for
European and Olympic selection were left empty as we raced alongside
aquatic ghosts in a spirit of the friendships we had known. As a mark of
respect and in order to honour those who had lost
their lives, a bouquet of flowers was placed on the starting block at the end
of each empty lane. It is an image I will never forget.
I knew Dino Rora (we swam at club
level against Fiat
In
Karl-Walter Fricke, who passed away in February 2006 at the
age of 93, deserves warm thanks from the world swimming community for his role
in events. He should be regarded as the true father of the Swimming World Cup,
having given rise to the idea of hosting international events of global
significance in between the biggest of occasions. The
SwimNews thanks Georges for his memories, and recalls those who lost their lives - Italian readers
can find Geroges' story and more information from
Walter Bolognani at nuoto.it.
On the evening of January 28, at
The disaster was the worst in Italian sports history since a
plane crash at
Daniela Beneck, then Italy's top
woman swimmer and later a leading light in the federation and media, was to
have gone to the meet in Bremen, but was excused so she could at- tend her
sister's wedding.
Those who lost their lives were:
Luciana Massenzi, 20, national backstroke
champion.
Carmen Longo, 19, national breaststroke champion.
Amedeo Chimisso, 19, who died in the year
of his international debut.
Paolo Costoli, coach and national
champion on freestyle (200m to 1,500m) in 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1934, 1935,
1937 and 1938. In 1931, he took bronze over 1,500m at the European
Championships behind Oliver Hallassy (HUN), and in
1934 at the same event claimed two silvers, over 400 and 1,500m behind Jean Taris (FRA). Costoli was a
pioneer as far as Italian swimming success was concerned.
Bruno Bianchi, who had turned 23 just two days before the
tragedy, was national sprint freestyle champion (100 and 200m). In the month of
his 17th birthday, he competed at the 1960 home
Chiaffredo 'Dino' Rora, 21, was a freestyle and backstroke national
champion and held the European 100m backstroke record in 1963. He was a medal
hope for the
Daniela Samuele, 17, was national junior
butterfly champion.
Sergio de Gregorio, 20, national champion
over 200, 400 and 1,500m freestyle. He was racing 200m times in 1965 worthy of
making the 1968 Olympic final, and was the first Italian under 18mins over
1,500m.
That year's meet in Bremen saw Ada Kok (NED), 1968 Olympic champion warm up with wins of
1:05.9 and 2:25.4 over 100 and 200m butterfly, while Kiehl,
we can reveal took the 100m breaststroke in 1:09.7 and the 200m in 2:32.1.
The
ANNOTICO Reports Can be Viewed (and are Archived) on:
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Italia Mia: http://www.ItaliaMia.com (3 years)
Annotico
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