Swimming in Italy is still all about Federica Pellegrini That's why Nike Swim chose her for the Italian market

Say swimming in Italy and you immediately think of Federica Pellegrini. It doesn’t matter that she officially retired in 2021 or that in the meantime the movement has produced a generation of swimmers capable of winning six Olympic medals at Paris 2024. It’s a matter of aura, status, legacy. Overused words, perhaps, but never more fitting than in this case to perfectly sum up the career of one of the most successful and famous Italian athletes of all time. It is therefore no surprise that Nike Swim has chosen her as for the Italian market. The collaboration between Nike Swim and Federica Pellegrini is part of the brand’s development path in Italy, where the line dedicated to swimming and water sports is distributed exclusively by 3A, the Italian company that has managed the brand’s presence in the country since 2018.

Now that Federica is no longer competing, this collaboration is closely linked to the Fede Academy, the project founded by Federica Pellegrini together with her husband and coach Matteo Giunta to inspire a new generation of swimmers. "My husband Matteo and I – Federica tells us at the 3A headquarters in Cavaion Veronese – are the conduits of this concept. We decided to start this wonderful Fede Academy project about four years ago, and for the past three years we have been supported by Nike Swim to try to bring our passion and our experience to very young swimmers, accompanied by an incredible brand and therefore always maintaining the highest level of quality".

Nike Swim is the official supplier of the Fede Academy, providing equipment and support to students and coaches, but when you ask Federica what advice she would give to younger athletes, the first word that comes to her mind is fun: "For me it’s very easy to talk about fun, in the sense that swimming is a very tough and very demanding sport and it can also be, forgive the term, a bit boring. You’re there alone in your lane, even if there is a team behind you; effectively it’s a very individual sport, even more so because of the element you are immersed in. So have fun, have fun, always try to do it with a lot of enjoyment".

Discipline, determination, team spirit and self-awareness. From these pillars Federica Pellegrini built her career, but among hundreds of races which were her three favorites? "In first place the gold medal at the Budapest 2017 World Championships; at the time Katie Ledecky was still unbeatable. People might think I’m crazy, but it was something truly unexpected, incredible, evolved and complex. In second place, of course, the Olympic gold at Beijing 2008, which is hard to put in second place. In third place—and it hurts my heart to put it there—I’d say Rome 2009".