Nino Fazio reported from the Straits Of Messina in Sicily, Italy, “Yesterday, Finy Fichera from Taormina, a Sicilian master swimmer, completed a double-crossing of the Straits. The 82 year old swimmer is the oldest athlete to swim across the Straits. Two years ago, Finy completed a single crossing from Sicily to mainland Italy, but his swim was much harder due to the strong and wild currents.”

One of the greatest experts of the Messina waters, Giovanni Arena, escorted Finy across in 2 hours and 46 minutes after swimming the first half in 58:38.

“Finy, who won the 800 freestyle at the Italian Masters Championships and will be at Goteborg’s World Masters Swimming Championships, has one eye – which makes open-water swiming a real challenge. To help him to keep visual contact with his escort boat, a friend Camillo Carlucci swim backstroke by his side for a few miles. Finy is a real character.”

The history of the Straits of Messina solo swims are compiled here.

Photos courtesy of Nino Fazio.

Copyright © 2010 by Steven Munatones