She was one of Laure Manaudou's greatest rivals in the water and sometimes also outside the swimming pools.
Italian swimmer Federica Pellegrini bids farewell to the pools after more than 20 years of career at the Italian short course championships.
The opportunity for her to win a… 130th national title.
A few months after her last Olympic Games, she competed in Riccione in Emilia-Romagna, the very last race of her career over her favorite distance in the 200m freestyle. The swimmer is 33 years old. “It has been twenty years of swimming and fatigue. I loved swimming madly and still love it. What will be missing the most, it will be the group, but what I will certainly not miss, it is the fatigue in training ”, underlines the six-time world champion, still holder of the record in 200 m freestyle, quoted by the Rai. “The Olympic title, the victories and world records, the five consecutive Olympic finals. Thank you for everything, "Fede" "writes for his part the Italian Olympic Committee on his Twitter account.
For her last race, Federica Pellegrini paid tribute to one of her former rivals: Camille Muffat.
The Frenchwoman died in a helicopter crash while filming the show "Dropped".
To swim a last 50 m freestyle, "La Divine" asked to leave an empty swimming lane, that of Muffat.
She also made sure that the Frenchwoman's cap was on the starting block.
Class, until the end.
https://t.co/9oiBA90c1w
- Yannick Agnel (@YannickAgnel) December 1, 2021
With his retirement, swimming is a legend that comes out of the water.
During her career, Federica Pellegrini has won everything.
She was crowned in the 200m freestyle at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, her only career Olympic gold medal.
She won silver over the same distance in 2004. At the World Championships, she won four titles over the same distance (2009, 2011, 2017, 2019) as well as at the European Championships (2010, 2012 , 2014, 2016).
It also shines in other races, such as the 400m freestyle (European champion in 2008, world champion in 2009 and 2011) and the 4 x 100m and 4 x 200m freestyle relays (gold medal at the 2012 and 2014 European Championships with Italy).
In total, Federica Pellegrini has won 22 titles (including 14 in large pools) and won more than 60 international and continental medals throughout her career.
Flag bearer of Italy in Rio in 2016, she played 5 Olympic finals in a row over the same distance, the 200m freestyle between 2004 and 2021. A record again.
She trained for several months under the guidance of Philippe Lucas, the former mentor of Laure Manaudou.