Where are they now? Giorgio Lamberti

Swimming World and Junior Swimmer, Jun 1999 by Johnson, Stephen

When Australia's Grant Hackett went 1:46.67 in the 200 meter freestyle on March 23, he broke the longest-standing men's long course world record, held by Italy's Giorgio Lamberti for nearly ten years.

At age 6, on the advice of his family doctor in his hometown of Brescia, Italy, the tall, thin Giorgio Lamberti took up swimming by enrolling in a swim school run by the Italian Swimming Federation coach, Alberto Castagnetti. Lamberti credits much of his success to his coach: "(Castagnetti) has an amazing technical feeling for swimming...and with his fine sense of humor, he taught me how to stay cool when I was under heavy pressure."

Giorgio certainly learned well-by the late 1980s, he had become a superstar. 1988 saw both success and disappointment-Giorgio broke Michael Gross' 200 and 400 free short course world records early in the year, but shoulder pain and spinal problems hampered his Olympic bid in Seoul.

At the 1989 European Championships in Bonn, Giorgio set the 200 free long course world record with a 1:46.69 and set a European record in the 100 free (49.24). Even more thrilling, he says, was the 800 free relay. He went a blistering 1:45.53, still the fastest 200 relay split in history, to lead Italy to its first-ever European relay title.

Early the next year, he swam 1:43.64 to set a 200 free record in short course meters, a mark that was finally broken just last April by Ian Thorpe (1:43.28) at the World Short Course Championships in Hong Kong. But shoulder and spine pain prevented Giorgio from giving it his all in the Barcelona Olympics.

When Giorgio stopped swimming competitively in 1993, he didn't leave the pool far behind. He serves as a swimming commentator for Italian TV, consults for a swimming clothing company, and above all, he married a swimmer, Italy's Tanya Vannini. Italian swimming is well-represented in the Lamberti house-in addition to Giorgio's 100 and 200 freestyle records and his three Italian national relay records, Tanya holds national records in the 200 and 400 freestyles.

Giorgio counsels today's young swimmers to work hard, be self-disciplined and respect their competitors and themselves. "After all," he says, "sport's ultimate goal is to improve yourself."

Like everything he does in life, Giorgio took the loss of his long course world record gracefully, saying, "Had Hackett beaten the record at a competition where I was attending as a TV commentator, I would have been happy to shake hands and congratulate him." He added, "I'm not sad at having lost a record, for soon I will gain a son." Within days of this interview, Giorgio and his wife welcomed a son, Matthew, to the world.

This article was prepared with the assistance of Camillo Cametti, editor of the FINA magazine, The World of Swimming, who interviewed Lamberti.