In preparation for the 2016 short course World Championships in Windsor, Canada, the Italian national team has taken to training at altitude in Livigno, Italy. This is the second-consecutive year that the Italian national team has gone to Livigno for training, a location that coaches and swimmers both enjoy as it allows them to remain stateside and not travel across multiple time zones to train while still getting the benefits of altitude training.
The Italian Swimming Federation has partnered with Livigno, considering it a strategic location to train its top athletes. Roberto Del Bianco, an adviser to the Italian Swimming Federation, is a proponent of training in Livigno for multiple reasons. Del Bianco says, “We are in Livigno for the second year and we hope to stay here again because the Federation is the optimal conditions for training but also create an atmosphere of close-knit group.”
The Italian national team isn’t the only beneficiary of the group training in Livigno; Luca Moretti, President of Tourist Promotion in Livigno, states that the number of children and adults enrolled in swimming programs in Livigno has increased, a result he attributes to the presence of the national team. Livigno is now also planning to construct a new Olympic-sized pool, with the intention of broadening the “user base” of Livigno as a training location for athletes.
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