Courtesy of Ned Denison, International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame.
If you say certain words to open water swimmers, they nod knowingly.
Words like ‘the English Channel’, ‘lac St-Jean,’ ‘Molokai Channel,’ ‘Olympic 10K’.
One of those words that brings up all kinds of history, memories and impressions is ‘Capri–Napoli‘.
Officially named the Maratona del Golfo Capri-Napoli, the 36 km race in Italy’s Tyrrhenian Sea, it is part of the FINA UltraMarathon Swim Series circuit and one of the longest running professional and amateur marathon swimming competitions in the world which began in 1954.
The festive event starts on the island of Capri and finishes 22 miles later on Marina Grande Beach in Napoli on the mainland of Italy.
The face of the event and the man behind the scenes is race director Luciano Cotena.
Patiently, passionately, professionally, Cotena was instrumental in restarting one of marathon swimming’s great events. The event attracted most of the world’s greatest swimmers between 1954 and 1992, but then the organization and sponsorships went into hiatus and the event was not held between 1993 and 2002.
But Cotena brought life into a local organizing committee and brought the event back in 2003. Cotena affiliated the historical race to the FINA Marathon Swimming World Cup circuit until 2006 and then shifted to the FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix FINA UltraMarathon Swim Series circuit since then.
Now in its 53rd edition, Cotena remains the effective head of the Organizing Committee. Additionally, Cotena organized the 4th FINA World Open Water Swimming Championships in 2006 and coordinated the open water swimming event at the 2009 FINA World Championships in Ostia, Rome and has continued working as a FINA open water swimming consultant to develop and expand the sport of open water swimming on a worldwide basis.
Ned Denison, chairman of the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, describes Cotena, “Luciano is an expert in sports and marketing. As the Chief Executive Officer of Eventualmente Eventi & Comunicazione since 2003, he has aided the communications and organization of national and international sporting events including open water swimming, water polo, high diving, boxing, basketball, volleyball, running, soccer and triathlon as well as volunteering as the President of his local swimming club, Napoli Aquatica.”
The International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame announcement of Cotena being inducted as an Honor Contributor – Administrator in his native Italian is below:
Luciano Cotena – Onoreficenza dalla International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame: Onorificenza contributore – Dirigente
Luciano Cotena è stato determinante nel riproporre uno dei più grandi eventi della maratone di nuoto: la Capri-Napoli (36 km). L’evento, nato nel 1954, aveva lasciato il calendario per 10 anni, dal 1993 al 2002. Luciano, come Presidente del Comitato organizzatore, ha portato l’evento all’interno della Coppa del Mondo FINA dal 2003 al 2006. E’ diventato, quindi, parte del Grand Prix FINA dal 2007 al 2017, riproponendolo, nel 2018, come World Challenge, nella sua 53esima edizione.
Nel 2006 è stato Presidente del Comitato Organizzatore della 4^ edizione dei Campionati del mondo di nuoto in acque libere della FINA, svoltisi a Napoli. Nel 2009, Luciano è stato consulente del nuoto in acque libere per i campionati del mondo FINA a Roma e ha continuato, da allora, come consulente FINA contribuendo a sviluppare ed espandere lo sport del nuoto in acque libere.
Luciano è un esperto di sport e marketing. Dal 2003, in qualità di Amministratore delegato di “Eventualmente Eventi & Comunicazione”, ha realizzato la comunicazione e l’organizzazione di eventi sportivi nazionali/internazionali tra i quali: nuoto, pallanuoto, tuffi dalle grandi altezze, pugilato, pallacanestro, pallavolo, running, calcio e triathlon. Il suo coinvolgimento è proseguito parallelamente in qualità di Presidente della sua Associazione locale Mind the Wave.
For information on the Maratona del Golfo Capri-Napoli, visit here. The 2017 race is shown below:
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