The Olympic Games in London, which came all of a sudden after his injury, seemed to have precluded any hope of him playing. In Rio, instead, he wants to take the leading role and defend the silver medal he won 4 years ago. He was born and raised in a small town in Liguria where sports facilities are not the best and became interested in water polo thanks to two school friends who offered to take him to the training sessions. Since then he has done a great job, and improved a lot, and has remained attached to his origins and birthplace: he has always played in teams of the Liguria region (Imperia, Camogli, Savona and Recco). He loves skiing and snowboarding, even though he is too busy to practice them as he once used to.