Panziera, Quadarella, Paltrinieri, Detti To Train in U.S. For Five Weeks

A squad of top Italian talents under coach Stefano Morini will spend five weeks training in the United States, Margherita Panziera revealed in an interview with Italian media last week.

The 24-year-old Panziera spoke to Italy’s La Tribuna last week. One of four Italians already qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Panziera told La Tribuna that her goal is to earn an Olympic medal in the 200 back. That would be redemption, she says, from an up-and-down 2019.

“My 2019 has positive and negative voices,” she said, in a rough translation of the Italian. “The fourth place at the World Championships left a bitter taste in my mouth, but I’m happy to have ended the year with a Short Course European Championships gold and a qualification for Tokyo.”

Panziera, distance swimmers Simona Quadarella and Gregorio Paltrinieri, and breaststroker Nicolo Martinenghi all earned early qualifications for Tokyo at Italy’s Winter Championships. Panziera says she will spend five weeks between January and February training at a college in the United States, along with Morini’s training group that will include Quadarella, Paltrinieri and Gabriele Detti. Posts from social media appear to indicate that the group is in Flagstaff, training at Northern Arizona University’s facility.

Some other notes from Panziera’s interview:

• She mentions improving her race management in the 100 back, noting her Italian record in the semifinals followed by a 6th-place finish in the final at the European Championships.
• Panziera also revealed that she was ill with cytomegalovirus last summer. She said she didn’t feel at her best at the World Championships in Korea, and found out through a test in September that she was suffering from the cytomegalovirus, or CMV.