For over 30 years, Camillo Cametti has been writing about
sport. To Camillo, a sportsman, it comes naturally.
He was born in Verona, Italy in 1943, where he has lived
most of his life. He earned university degrees in both economics and physical
education. He competed in sports on the national level in handball, volleyball,
rugby and also in tennis, cross-country skiing and more.
But his main love was swimming and he competed as a
freestyler, backstroker and open water swimmer. He has played water polo for 28
years and coached both swimming and water polo. He is also a lifesaving
instructor.
As an international journalist, Camillo has been extremely
effective in promoting both swimming and the people in it. He has covered every
summer Olympic Games since Munich in 1972 – a total of nine Games including
Athens in 2004. He has been the journalist at all FINA World Championships since
their inception in 1973 at Belgrade – a total of nine. He is founder, publisher
and editor-in-chief of swimming magazines: FINA’s “The World of Swimming,”
Italian Swimming Federation’s “FIN News,” “Il Mondo del Nuoto,” and “La Tecnica
del Nuoto.” He has been a contributor to Italy’s main sports daily “La Gazzetta
Dello Sport,” Italy’s main television “RAI,” Italy’s main sports magazine,
“Guerin Sportivo,” FINA magazine “FINA aquatics world,” and more. He has been a
lecturer to both national and international clinics and seminars on sports
journalism related to swimming.
Camillo has covered numerous international swim meets
including World Cups, European Championships, USA Nationals, Olympic Trials and
Italian National Championships. He has written two swimming books in Italian: How to Teach Swimming and Swimming Technique. He has served as media
manager for both the FINA World Championships in Rome (1994) and the FIFA
Football World Cup in Verona (1990).
As a contributor, Camillo has served swimming in many other
ways. He is a former board member of the Italian Swimming Federation (FIN), a
member of IOC ORIS Working Group for Aquatic Sports and chairman of the AIPS
Swimming Commission (1990-2002). From 1988 to 1996, he was a member of the FINA
Technical Swimming Committee and the first to propose the recognition of short
course competitions and world records as well as the introduction, recognition
and acceptance of prize money in selected competitions. Camillo serves as
chairman of both the FINA Press Commission (since its inception in 1994) and the
International Swimming Hall of Fame Honoree Selection Committee (since 2002).
Camillo is fluent in four languages. In 2002, CONI, Italy’s
National Olympic Committee, awarded the “Golden Star,” Italy’s top sporting
honor, to Camillo. From 1994 to 1998, he served as deputy mayor of Verona during
which time he developed four new swimming facilities in town. |
