Over the weekend the Second Annual Swim4Life Trophy and Casale Memorial event was held in the Campania region of Italy and is part of the Italian Federation’s Master’s circuit.
There were 43 teams and 600 athletes who attended the competition that saw European masters records being broken. The highlight of the meet though was the Dream Team relay that involved several swimmers who have represented Italy internationally.
The mixed 4 x 50 relay included Renato Ferrante, Michele and Gabriele Cosentino, Francesco Vespe, Luca Mencarini, Niccolo Beni and paralympian Simone Ciulli.
Vespe represented Italy in international competition in the 200 butterfly while Luca Mencarini won the 200 backstroke at the 2013 World Junior Swimming Championships. Mencarini posted a 1:57.92, which is the current World Junior Record.
Beni represented Italy at the 2008 Olympics swimming in the men’s 200 butterfly and ultimately 20th. He used the Swim4Life event to announce his retirement from the sport.
Swim4Life is an organization that reports on masters swimming in Italy. The competition over the last weekend is also used as a memorial to co-founder Marco Casale.
