Paralympics: who is Barlaam, the amazing fighting fish of Italnuoto

Paris, 28 August 2024 – Bro rainbow medals, European and paralympics, world and continental records, and adding a collection of honors and prizes ranging from collars for sporting merit to the Ambrogino d'oro (never something banal for a Milanese), the palmares on the Wikipedia page of Simone Barlaam never ends, and after all when you are eclectic like him - freestyle, backstroke, butterfly - and you are also extremely strong, victories are a consequence.

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It is not for nothing that Barlaam, who turned 24 last July 12, is one of the in Paris most anticipated swimmers in the pool and on the podium, after the exploit in Tokyo three years ago, when he took home a gold (50 freestyle), two silvers (100 butterfly and 4x100 freestyle) and a bronze (4x100 medley). Swimming blue paralympian it is a hotbed of triumphs, and it was probably destiny that Barlaam would have been part of it, considering the numerous suggestions that accompanied him as a child and as a young man.

Mother Claudia, when her son was in hospital for the many operations As a child, he drew sharks, his father Riccardo invented a fictional character for him, the fighting fish, and made a docu-film from it, "The Fighting Fish", released in 2016, which tells the story of seven blue swimmers and of their journey towards the Rio Paralympics: Alessia Berra, Giulia Ghiretti, Federico Morlacchi, Francesca Secci, Fabrizio Sottile, Arianna Talamona - who even got a tattoo of the fighting fish - and Arjola Trimi, all Simone's teammates on the national team and all leading exponents of a movement that works. The shorter leg? And what's the problem? It was there on the bike trip with dad from Paris to London, it was there during the year of study in Australia, it was there in the pool in Tokyo three years ago – and that's where it counts: functional category s9 – and evidently it was is made to feel very good, given that the five podiums in Barlaam contributed to the fishing - not miraculous, but the result of planning - of 39 medals, with theItallimpic swimming fifth place overall in the medal table in the discipline.