The International Swimming Hall of Fame honored long-time Italian national team coach Massimo Giuliani for his extensive contributions to the administration of open water swimming with the 2024 Irving Davids/Captain Roger W. Wheeler Memorial Award. The Award was presented to Massimo during the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (IMSHOF) Induction and Award Ceremony in Cancún, México today.
Giuliani was honored along with the following luminaries of the sport:
- Penny Lee Dean, EdD – ISHOF Poseidon Award
- Massimo Giuliani – ISHOF Irving Davids/Captain Roger W. Wheeler Memorial Award
- Melissa Cunningham Roberts – The Dale Petranech Award for Services to IMSHOF
- Leonie Beck, Honor Swimmer, Germany, 2024
- Ros Hardiman, Honor Swimmer, Great Britain, 2024
- Allan do Carmo, Honor Swimmer, Brazil, 2024
- Sam Greetham, Honor Administrator, Great Britain, 2024
- Catherine Vogt Kase, Honor Coach, United States of America, 2024
- Lynton Mortensen, Honor Swimmer, Australia, 2024
- Pauline Jackson, Honor Administrator, United States of America, 2024
- Dr. Evgenij Pop Acev, Honor Swimmer, Macedonia
- Courtney Moates Paulk, Honor Swimmer, USA
- Arianna Bridi, Honor Swimmer, Italy
- Suzanne Heim-Bowen, Honor Swimmer, USA
- Dan Simonelli, Honor Coach, USA
- Simone Ruffini, Honor Swimmer, Italy
Irving Davids/Captain Roger W. Wheeler Memorial Award
The Irving Davids/Captain Roger W. Wheeler Memorial Award is presented annually by the International Swimming Hall of Fame to the individual who has contributed the most to the administration of open water swimming.
Ned Denison, chairperson of the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, explains, “This year’s award recognizes Massimo Giuliani, an open water swimming coach and administrator from Italy. Following a successful coaching career (highlighted by the 1994 FINA World Champion Team), Massimo moved to administration to become the Open Water Team Manager for Italy from 1995 to 2020. During these powerhouse years, Italy rose to the top three level of international programs – winning the overall points competition in five different years. Under Massimo’s guidance and leadership, Italian swimmers has won 17 gold, 17 silver, and 19 bronze medals at major International 10 km and 25 km races.
He also took on a senior role from 2019 to 2022 in LEN (European Swimming) as its Technical Open Water Swim Committee Secretary, a highly administrative position. Massimo served as the President of the Organizing Committee of the 2012 European Open Water Championships and 2016 Junior Open Water European Championships. He was also the Competition Manager at European Open Water Swimming Championships in Rome 2022.
He was one of the youngest qualified swimming coaches in Italy in 1985 and became the Italian 25 km Team Coach for the 1994 FINA World Championship Team. Massimo was inducted into the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame as an Honor Coach in 2020.”
Steven Munatones added, “Massimo runs highly professional organizations. He has been the head coach of Comune di Piombino since 2004 and was the Technical Director (Commissario Tecnico) of the Italian Swimming Federation (Federazione Italiana Nuoto) for 21 years. Open water swimming is in his blood – he is an expert in water safety for open water events and lifesaving – and has played a part in Italian swimmers’ participation in the Olympic marathon swim since 2008:
Italian Marathon Swimmers at the Olympic Games
2008 – 4th by Valerio Cleri and 10th by Martina Grimaldi
2012 – bronze by Martina Grimaldi and 17th by Valerio Cleri
2016 – silver by Rachele Bruni, 6th by Simone Ruffini and 7th by Federico Vanelli
Italian Marathon Swimmers at the Olympic Games
2008 – 4th by Valerio Cleri and 10th by Martina Grimaldi
2012 – bronze medal by Martina Grimaldi and 17th by Valerio Cleri
2016 – silver medal by Rachele Bruni, 6th by Simone Ruffini, and 7th by Federico Vanelli
2020 – bronze medal by Gregorio Paltrinieri, 14th by Mario Sanzullo and 14th by Rachele Bruni
Irving Davids/Captain Roger W. Wheeler Memorial Award Recipients
- 1970 Joe Grossman
- 1971 Gerald Forsberg
- 1972 Buck Dawson
- 1973 Willy Van Rysel
- 1974 Jerry Nason
- 1975 Ray Scott and Audrey Scott
- 1976 Aquatique Club Du lac St. Jean
- 1977 Conrad Wennerberg
- 1978 Charles E. Silvia
- 1979 Dennis Matuch
- 1980-2001 Award Retired
- 2002 James Doty
- 2003 British Long Distance Swimming Association
- 2004 Roger Parsons & Valerie Parsons
- 2005 Lynn Blouin
- 2006 Dale Petranech
- 2007 Silvia Dalotto
- 2008 Shelley Taylor-Smith
- 2009 Michael Read
- 2010 Christopher Guesdon
- 2011 Steven Munatones
- 2012 Drury Gallagher
- 2013 Ned Denison
- 2014 Melissa Cunningham
- 2015 Dennis Miller
- 2016 David Yudovin
- 2017 Richard Broer
- 2018 Stéphane Lecat
- 2019: Sue Guesdon
- 2020: Sid Cassidy
- 2021: Colin Hill
- 2022: Elizabeth Fry
- 2023: Sally Anne Minty-Gravett, MBE
- 2024: Massimo Giuliani
Massimo Giuliani riceverà il premio Irving Davids/Captain Roger W. Wheeler Memorial 2024
L’International Swimming Hall of Fame (ISHOF) riconoscerà Massimo Giuliani, per i suoi ampi contributi alla gestione del nuoto in acque libere, con il premio Irving Davids/Captain Roger W. Wheeler Memorial Award 2024. Il premio sarà consegnato a Massimo durante la cerimonia di premiazione e di induzione dell’International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (IMSHOF) che si terrà a Cancun, in Messico, sabato 18 maggio 2024. Il premio Irving Davids/Captain Roger W. Wheeler Memorial Award viene assegnato annualmente dalla International Swimming Hall of Fame alla persona che ha contribuito maggiormente alla gestione del nuoto in acque libere.
Il premio di quest’anno è stato assegnato a Massimo Giuliani, amministratore del nuoto in acque libere in Italia. Dopo una carriera di allenatore di successo (squadra campione del mondo FINA 1994), Massimo è passato all’amministrazione diventando il responsabile della squadra di nuoto in acque libere dell’Italia dal 1995 al 2020. Durante questi anni, l’Italia è salita ai primi tre livelli dei programmi internazionali, vincendo la classifica generale in 5 anni diversi. Sotto la guida e la direzione di Massimo, l’Italia ha vinto 17 ori, 17 argenti e 19 bronzi nei principali eventi internazionali di 10 e 25 km.
Dal 2019 al 2022 ha assunto anche un ruolo di responsabilità nella LEN (European Swimming) come Segretario del Comitato Tecnico di Nuoto in acque libere. Massimo ha ricoperto il ruolo di Presidente del Comitato Organizzatore dei Campionati Europei in acque libere del 2012 e dei Campionati Europei Juniores in acque libere del 2016, nonché di Competition Manager dei Campionati Europei di nuoto in acque libere di Roma 2022.
È stato uno dei più giovani allenatori di nuoto qualificati in Italia nel 1985 ed è diventato l’allenatore della squadra italiana di 25 km per i campionati mondiali FINA del 1994. Massimo è stato inserito nella International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame come Honor Coach nel 2020.
© 2024 Daily News of Open Water Swimming
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