Sabina Vitaloni competes for the Italian masters team Natatio Master Team, and she returned to the water in 2006 after nearly two decades away. Her standout achievement to date came at the 2025 World Championships in Singapore, where she set world records in the 50m and 100m breaststroke in the 55-59 category.
For Vitaloni, the racing itself is only part of the pull. “I love competing and experiencing the adrenaline of racing,” she says, “but at the same time what matters a lot to me is the group and the people I’ve met through Masters swimming.” It’s an environment, she explains, that has given her some genuinely meaningful friendships.
She swam competitively when she was younger but stepped away early, around the age of 18. Nearly twenty years passed before she got back into the pool, and the return, in 2006, came almost by accident. She was asked to help a newly formed swim team in Lodi, drawing on coaching and instructor qualifications she already held. Being back on deck was enough to pull her back into the water herself, and with it came that same old excitement and adrenaline.
There has never really been a moment where she considered stopping for good. “In recent years, especially after Covid, it has become more difficult to balance work and training,” she admits, “but swimming makes me feel good. I always try to find time for it because it gives me energy and balance.”
Vitaloni is quick to broaden the credit beyond Masters swimming specifically. “I would actually say swimming in general, not just Masters swimming. It has always given me an extra push in life — it’s my everyday fuel.” It helps her feel good, she says, and that’s probably one of the reasons she keeps coming back to it.
Race day itself feels different now than it did in her youth. There’s more awareness in how she approaches a start, and probably more enjoyment and freedom too. The emotion hasn’t gone anywhere, she says, but it sits inside a different mindset than it once did.
The community side of the sport is something she returns to again and again when she talks about why she swims. Coming back to the pool, she says, felt like finding a second family. She has met people who have become almost like sisters to her, some from her own city and some from far further afield, and they have enhanced her life in ways the racing alone never could.
With the European Aquatics Masters Championships coming up in just over a month’s time, Vitaloni is looking forward to a familiar mix of challenge and reunion. “It’s always exciting to challenge yourself,” she says, “but for me it’s also an opportunity to meet people I now regularly see at competitions.”
Her best memory from a Masters competition so far is an easy one to name: seeing “WR” appear next to her name at last year’s World Championships in Singapore. But even that, she’s careful to point out, mattered most because of who she got to share it with, rather than the achievement itself.
Success at the championships won’t be defined purely by results. “I always say that simply being there already feels special,” she says. “Taking part in an international event is always exciting. Then we’ll see what happens. I mainly hope to enjoy the experience and share meaningful moments with the people around me.”
Asked how long she sees herself doing this, she is unequivocal in her answer. “Swimming is fuel for my life. As long as my body allows me to, I will keep swimming and, of course, competing too, because I still love the adrenaline of racing.
“If someone feels like trying, I always encourage them to do it. Challenging yourself is a wonderful experience, and it gives you the chance to meet people who share the same passion.”
Stephen Stanley for European Aquatics
