Long interview with Alessia Filippiformer Italian swimming champion as well huge Roma fan. We talked with her – obviously – about her and hers passion for the yellow and red colours practically born with her, initially passed down by the family and then cultivated over time; but also about her career, from the great emotions experienced for the goals achieved up to the difficult moment of retirement.
Born in the capital, her biggest dream, she told us, was to become an athlete and maybe succeed win right in his own city. And so it was. That medal, obtained in the stadium where she grew up, at the World Cup, “It was like winning the Olympics”. After all, she who at the Games still brought home a beautiful second place, the prestigious palmares achieved in his career speaks for him. All this, however, without ever losing sight of his second greatest passion: that for Rome.
Interview with Alessia Filippi
Alessia Filippi he won one silver medal in Beijing in 2008, then the world championships in Rome the following year. And again, the victories at Budapest (2006) and in Holland (two golds, in 2008) at the Europeans. But these are just some of the successes achieved by the Roman athlete the peak of his career between 2006 and 2009, when the triumph also arrived in the capital. In short, a path full of satisfactions, which led her to compete and win in the best swimming stadiums in the world. We talked with her about her career but above all about hers bond with the Giallorossi team.
The Giallorossi faith and the memory of the 2001 scudetto
We know you are a big Roma fan: how did your passion begin? Who sent it to you? What did your favorite team represent and what does it represent for you?
“I have been a Roma fan since 7/23/1987, which is the day I was born (laughs, ed.). The whole paternal side supports the yellow-reds, so it was inevitable to cheer for this wonderful team! Supporting Roma for me represented, like most Roman fans, a part of life that cannot be renounced. Sundays cheering, from home, with the radio, superstitious rituals that were born over time, then personally Totti’s shirt in the suitcasewhen I left for important races, as a good luck charm!”
A few days ago we celebrated 23 years since our last championship. What memories do you have of that day? How did you celebrate and what emotions did you experience?
“I have beautiful memories, I was a girl, walking around Rome, with cars honking, trumpets of all kinds, yellow-red smoke everywhere, smiles, hugs from people I’d never seen before, a party like only we know how to do! I was truly fascinated by how a football faith could unite everyone.”
Alessia Filippi on De Rossi: “Seeing him train is something unique. She has proven her worth. My idols? It’s easy. On the market I would focus on Morata”
Daniele De Rossi is Roma’s coach today, but we fans know what he has represented for this team and for this city over the last 20 years. How do you see his journey on the Giallorossi bench and how do you foresee his future in these roles?
“So let’s start from the assumption that I adored Totti and De Rossi, I went to Trigoria in 2006 and seeing them live thrilled me. He is a great person, as an athlete he gave us very strong emotions, seeing him there now training his boys is something unique. I believe he is very good, he has demonstrated it to us in recent months, in press conferences he never says anything obvious. I see him really comfortable with him, the boys follow him and it’s a fundamental side.”
De Rossi replaced Mourinho who was certainly a coach who left his mark in the hearts of the fans with the conquest of the Conference, bringing the fans much closer to the stadium and dragging the south curve even further. As a fan, did you also feel more involved after his arrival and his results?
“Mourinho gave a lot to the team, I liked him, but it was time for a change. As I said above, I like De Rossi very much, certainly having been a very high level athlete, he can give that something extra. He has a lot of heart and it shows.”
Who was your idol and who, over the years, was the Rome that fascinated you the most?
“Well definitely the Roma of Totti-De Rossi“.
This is a period of turmoil for the transfer market which is always a hot topic in the summer: who would you like to see arrive in Rome? Lately there’s been a lot of talk about Chiesa and Morata: would you like to see them in yellow and red? And what other names do you think can help the team grow?
“Among the 2 names you mentioned, after Lukaku’s departure, Morata would be more useful. We have a sporting director, very young, who comes from France, I hope that he will be able to bring in good young people who may be cheap, but who want to establish themselves. What we perhaps need most are 2 wingers, 1 right and 1 on the left, the dream would be, Nico Williams.”
The brilliant career, from the beginning to the success: “Winning in Rome was the best moment”
Now let’s talk about your career: you experienced golden years with many successes that took you to the top of the world. Among other things, a gold medal in 2009 won in your hometown of Rome: what emotions do you feel winning a world championship in your city? And more generally to live from your passion at those levels?
“Being an athlete meant having achieved the dream I had as a child, I have always loved swimming like nothing else. That in itself was a success for me, then having reached the goals I achieved crowned the most beautiful dream I could have wished for. Winning in Rome was fundamental for me, the swimming pool where I grew up. The first time I entered the swimming stadium, I was 10 years old and there were endless 50m in a row. Playing a World Cup at home, winning it…for me it was like winning the Olympics, 13,000 people cheering for me.”
What is the best memory you have of your swimming career? Was this your dream as a child?
“I think I answered above, I had a dream as a child, to participate in the Olympics, I made 3 of them with a silver, a 4th and 5th place, a dream come true and even more!”
Alessia Filippi today: “Quitting wasn’t easy but now I’ve found serenity. As a mother and former athlete, here’s what I think.”
Totti never hid his suffering in stopping playing football and recently declared: “When I stopped playing I felt myself sinking.” What was the end of your career like for you? How did you experience the moment of your farewell?
“I totally agree, it was a very difficult and tough journey, I had no support around me. There was only my husband who helped me. I believe we need a path that helps an athlete who is not in an armed forcewhich will help him with training for the future, I honestly didn’t know what to do.”
What are you doing today and what are your dreams and plans now?
“Today I can say that I have found my way, thanks to Sports & Health and some people who gave me a hand. Now I’m in this big and beautiful family, which deals with sport, with bringing people together to practice sport and stay healthy. After all, sport is exactly what I experienced: psycho-physical well-being, knowing how to put healthy foods on the table, exercising to stay healthy, being in company, laughing, always trying to have new stimuli, new challenges, getting up if you falls, because if you fall nothing happens!”
“Now I am a mother, I work, maybe this is my dream, pass on what I learned as an athlete. For me, getting a boy to get up from the sofa and join the swimming pool is a great satisfaction. And I saw it first hand a year ago, on holiday. The lifeguard at the establishment had had a hard time, gained some kilos etc. He wrote to me in November that he had resumed masters swimming, and won a medal.”
Not just swimming, you also acted in the film “Come un Delfino” with Raoul Bova, you participated as a juror in Sanremo Giovani and as a competitor in “Dancing with the Stars”. If you hadn’t been a swimmer what would you have liked to become?
“I don’t know, I’m a girl who never stops, I don’t set limits for myself, anything as long as it’s similar to my way of being! When I was very little I wanted to be a princess, why not? (laughs, ed.)”.
