He comes to Rio with two visiting cards in the 1500 meters and 400 meters’ freestyle, thanks to a performance at the national championships in Riccione, in which he came just a few tenths of a second behind the historic Italian record established by Massimiliano Rosolino which earned the Neapolitan swimmer a silver medal at the 2000 Games in Sydney. The Italian middle distance swimmer is at his second Games and, as a hopeful young (with a collection of continental and world wins at youth category level), he finally races in the Olympic Aquatics Stadium as a full blown talent. This is thanks also to Stefano Morini, his coach and uncle. Engaged to swimmer Stefania Pirozzi, the 21-year-old from Livorno allows himself few distractions. Forced to relinquish his participation in the World championships of Kazan in 2015 due to an annoying infection that kept him away from competitions for various months, he came out of it stronger and even more determined. His rivals are warned.