Gregorio PALTRINIERI

Gregorio Paltrinieri is one of the world's most versatile swimmers, competing both in the pool and open water (marathon) events.

The Italian first made swimming headlines in 2011, when he became European champion in the men's 1500m freestyle at the age of 16.

A year later he finished fifth in the 1500m at London 2012, but returned to the Olympics at Rio 2016 to win the 1500m Olympic gold.

The Carpi native has also won five world titles in the 1500m free (three times), the 800m free, and the 10km open water.

Paltrinieri is known for his unorthodox fast starts in the distance pool events, often taking leads of a whole pool length before his rivals start to close the gap in the later stages of the race.

He holds the European record in the 800m (7:39:27) and 1500m (14:32:80) freestyle events.