After serving a 90-day suspension, Italian Olympian Benedetta Pilato has spoken publicly for the first time. The Italian breaststroker did so in an interview with journalist Mario Calabresi, aired on Vivavoce, a podcast which features in-depth conversations on current affairs drawn from journalism and social discourse.
During the interview, Pilato reflected on a demanding 2025 season that concluded with a bronze medal in the women’s 50-meter breast at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore. She described the year as one of the most challenging of her career, both physically and mentally.
“Talking strictly about last season’s races, it was probably one of the most difficult years of my career,” Pilato said.
At the time, she was living and training in Turin (ITA), a period she described as personally stable but professionally complicated.
My life was going well, but my career a bit less: my body wasn’t reacting the way it should, it wasn’t responding to training stimuli. I’ve never hidden my hormonal difficulties.
The bronze medal in Singapore, she explained, carried particular significance. “That medal was important. It was unexpected, but deeply wanted.”
In the interview, Pilato also addressed the incident that occurred after the World Championships, during a private vacation in Bali with a small group of national team athletes, which later led to disciplinary action.
“We had fun and then something messy happened,” she said.
We made a mistake, a foolish act, and we paid the consequences. We apologized — I apologized to those I needed to apologize to. Fortunately, it was resolved very quickly.
Pilato spoke openly about the personal impact of the situation, both on herself and her family. “It was hard for me and for my family. I found myself facing something bigger than me,” she said, adding that she experienced moments of deep emotional distress. “I cried a lot and thought I had ruined everything.”
She explained that stepping away from public attention was necessary. “I needed this period of silence. I made a mistake, but the comments from people affected me.” According to Pilato, her move to Rome later on played a positive role in regaining balance. “The change helped.”
The Disciplinary Case
The events referenced by Pilato date back to August 2025, when she and fellow Italian Olympic swimmer Chiara Tarantino were briefly detained and questioned by authorities at Singapore Airport over an alleged unpaid purchase at a duty-free shop. The situation was resolved within a few hours, with assistance from the Italian Embassy, and no criminal charges were filed.
Pilato, 21 today, won a bronze medal in the 50 breaststroke at 2025 World championships. That was her fifth career World Championship medal in 50m breast LCM and sixth overall (she won the 100 breast in 2022).
Tarantino, 22, is one of the country’s best sprinters, and attended the World Championships as a relay-only swimmer.
Following the incident, the Italian Swimming Federation (FIN) initiated disciplinary proceedings. After receiving authorization from the Office of the CONI Prosecutor General, the Federation accepted the proposal of the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, following individual plea bargain requests submitted by the athletes.
Taking into account the outcome of the investigation and the cooperative attitude shown by both swimmers, FIN imposed a 90-day suspension from all federation and social activities, effective immediately. As a result, Pilato and Tarantino were forced to miss the 2025 European Short Course Championships and the Italian National SC Championship.
Return To Competition
With the suspension now completed, Benedetta Pilato has resumed full training. Since September, she has been based in Rome, working under the technical guidance of Mirko Nozzolillo. Her upcoming competitive schedule includes the Italian LC Championships in April and the European Championships in Paris, set for August 10–16.
After months marked by silence and enforced absence from competition, Pilato now turns her focus back to racing, with the goal of letting her performances in the pool speak for themselves once again.
