Ned Denison, chairperson of the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame, formally inducted Simone Ruffini as an Honor Swimmer in the IMSHOF Class of 2024.
The 34-year-old Italian professional marathon swimmer was honored today at the Class of 2024’s International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame ceremonies in Cancún, Mexico – 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, North 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
Simone Ruffini Legacy
Ruffini has traveled the world with the vaulted Italian national team and is married to his fellow Italian national teammate Aurora Ponsele. He finished 6th at the 2016 Rio Olympic 10K Marathon Swim and won 8 gold medals, 4 silver medals, and 5 bronze medals over the course of his professional marathon swimming career at international World Aquatics (formerly, FINA) competitions.
Denison explains Ruffini’s long, celebrated career, “Simone won 3 Majors over the course of his career including the 2015 FINA 25 km World Championship and two 2016 and 2017 FINA 10 km World Cup races. He competed from 2009 to 2022 in 17 countries. In 57 races he stood on the podium 18 times (32%) with 9 wins.
His 10 km FINA World Cup wins included: 2018 in Seychelles; 2017 in lac St Jean; 2016 in Hungary, Hong Kong, and China; 2015 in Argentina; and 2013 in Mexico. Simone swam in the 2016 Olympic in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. At longer distances, he was 4th in the 2017 FINA 25 km World Championships and at the 2019 and placed 3rd in the 36 km Maratona del Golfo Capri-Naples in 2021.
He won the 2011 10 km Summer Universiade by over 2 minutes and was part of the Italian National team which won the gold in the Team Event at the European Championship in Hungary in 2010 and in the Netherlands in 2016.
Steven Munatones recalls, “Simone swam a remarkable triple performance at the FINA World Championships in Kazan, Russia in 2015. Not only did he qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in the 10 km marathon swim, but he also swam an average pace of 1:10.3 per 100 meters in strategically winning the 25 km world title in very fast 4 hours 53 minutes.
But his hard training and competitive spirit in the water was secondary to his boldness and creativity on dryland. He topped off his aquatic exploits with a dramatic marriage proposal to fellow world-class swimmer Aurora Ponsele on the awards podium and in front of a global audience.
It took guts to pour out his heartfelt proposal in front of cameras and eyeballs around the world. For everything he did in the open water and on dryland, Simone was nominated for the 2015 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year.“
2015 FINA World Championships 25 km post-race interview:
Congratulations on a well-deserved honor.
© 2024 Daily News of Open Water Swimming
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