Paralympic Swimming World Championships, curtain rises: Apulian Vittoria Bianco is the Italian spearhead

The World Para Swimming Championships have begun, running until Saturday the 27th in Singapore. The Asian city concludes the trifecta of world events after competitive swimming and masters swimming. Puglia is also represented at these championships thanks to two-time Olympic medalist Vittoria Bianco and federal coach Francesco Piccinini.

Vittoria Bianco, who turns thirty on October 7th, originally from Putignano, where she lives and trains with the Nadir team, in addition to her dual membership with the Ministry of Defense, will compete in three races. Tomorrow she'll break the ice in the 100-meter freestyle, while the following day she'll compete in "her" race, the 400-meter freestyle, the distance in which she won a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Paralympics. She has excellent podium prospects, having the third-fastest time in the world this season. She'll conclude her adventure in Singapore on Friday with the 100-meter backstroke. Bianco competes in the S9 category, which includes athletes who have had a leg amputated (Bianco was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma in her right thigh in 2016, a diagnosis that led to her decision to have it amputated). The Italian national team is the team to beat; in the last two editions, they have always won the national rankings. Thirty-one athletes have registered, and after the first two days, the Italian team has already won six golds, four silvers, and five bronzes. Francesco Piccinini, the Italian national team coach and regional delegate for the Italian Paralympic Swimming Federation, is extremely pleased: "We have a large team," Piccinini explained from Singapore, "with an excellent chance of once again being among the world's top athletes. However, we had an organizational issue with the relay teams not registering, a mix-up caused by our secretariat mistakenly omitting their registration in a second step. We hope this doesn't affect our chances of winning the national rankings. Statistically, even without the relay points, we should maintain our lead."

Puglia has a top-level athlete who represents a rapidly growing movement in our region: "Vittoria Bianco, in the competitions she competes in, is particularly focused on the 400m freestyle, where she continues to achieve top-notch results. She's in great shape, I can confirm that, as are all the other athletes; they're very motivated, and the results of these first two days confirm that." Vittoria is an example to follow for the new generation, and there's great excitement throughout our region: "Puglia is constantly growing," Piccinini continues. "We're trying, with the help of some local coaches and athletes themselves, to increase the number of participants, thanks also to my club, Roxena, which has the largest number of athletes in the region. In three years, we've gone from four athletes to fifteen, all top athletes. In addition to Bianco, the icon of the discipline, there's also Maria Giovanna Gernone, who stood out with excellent performances, finishing on the podium at the recent youth games in Istanbul."

After the World Championships, which effectively close the competitive season, we'll get back to planning for next year: "As a national and regional delegate, upon my return I'll begin my work in Puglia. We've joined three new clubs and are about to organize a FIMP swimming instructor training course in January, to increase the number of coaches available for this discipline. We've already signed up about fifteen, and we'll already be bringing in new athletes, because the coaches hired for this training course already have some students under their belt."

Even in Paralympic swimming, the lack of facilities is a sporting problem: "Puglia will be an Italian sports region in 2026, so I hope that the regional institutions, also sensitized by myself, can support sporting events across the board, helping us organize very important events. The Modugno swimming pool is still there, and will soon be assigned to a new manager. There's always hope that the 35-meter pool at the Bari swimming stadium will open."

The World Championship matches can be viewed live on Rai Play, with the finals every day starting at 11:30 a.m. in Italy.