The Italian Open Water team has set their schedule for the next couple months of training, which will culminate this summer in Rio. Italian swimmers Simone Ruffini, Frederico Vanelli, and Rachele Bruni have all already qualified for the Italian open water Olympic team after their performances in Kazan last summer.
The trio will begin their season training January 9th at altitude in Johannesburg, 1750 meters above sea level. On February 3rd, they will leave for Argentina, where they are competing in the 2016 FINA World Cup La Patagones Viedma 10k swim, four laps of a 2.5 km circuit in the muddy Rio Negro, which takes place on the 6th. From there, they will travel to Brazil to test the Olympic waters and train at the Brazilian Naval School.
Each of the three swimmers placed in the top 10 in the 10k at last summer’s Open Water World Championships, which guaranteed their Olympic spots. Bruni grabbed fourth in the women’s event, while Ruffini finished seventh in the men’s and Vanelli edged onto the team with a men’s tenth. Unfortunately for Ruffini (who you may remember from his adorable podium proposal), the 25k, which he won in Kazan, is not an Olympic event.
Go Bafforuf!