Talking about rowing as a life choice is not an exaggeration with Giovanni Calabrese, the champion from Messina who grew up at CN Paradiso and is now coach of Canottieri Gavirate and head coach of the national Under 23 and university teams. The world of rowing gave him world and Olympic medals, even some disappointments but always without ever giving up.
How did you discover rowing?
«For fun, I’m from Novara di Sicilia but for work my parents moved to Messina when I was a kid. We lived in a house in Paradiso, I crossed the street and was on the beach playing football with friends. Some of them then started rowing and pulled me into it. It was spring 1980.”
A game that over time became something more ambitious.
«A very important figure is Salvatore Cama, president of the Club. He saw in me the desire to compete at high levels and put me in the best conditions to train and start the long journey that took me first to Bari, where the federal center for the South was, then to Piediluco, where for two years I worked with director Nilsen and head coach Postiglione. It is no coincidence that I have always competed for my home club and only in 2000, my last year as an athlete, did I move to Canottieri Gavirate. But here a technical proposal had taken over which allowed me to remain tied to rowing even after hanging up the oar.”
If I say 1987 what do you say?
«That year I won everything in lightweight: in the singles the Italian championships and in the World Cup in Lucerne and with Enrico Gandola in the doubles the World Championships in Copenhagen and the Universiade in Zagreb».
What memories do you have of Seoul, the first of your three Olympics?
«The atmosphere of the Village is unique and I had not yet turned 22. Getting there wasn’t easy, lightweights weren’t part of the Olympic program and I had to move to the category with no weight limits. With my boat mates, Davide Tizzano, Gianluca Farina and Piero Poli we faced two international regattas on the four sculls. Then my role as rowing leader was entrusted to Agostino Abbagnale and it was gold. I returned to singles and it was a great experience, entering the top ten despite challenging more powerful athletes.”
There has been no shortage of critical moments in his career.
«After the world silver in Bled in the 4 sculls and the World Championship in Tasmania in 1990 below expectations, I experienced two difficult years and thought about retiring. Watching the Barcelona Olympics on TV rekindled my flame and I started training again in singles, a specialty in which I won 10 Italian titles. In three world championship editions from ’93 to ’95 I finished fifth and twice fourth, in the last one the medal eluded me by 6 hundredths.”
In Atlanta ’96 he was expected to fight for medals: it went differently (17th).
«I was convinced that I could at least compete for a place in the final, but instead I didn’t arrive in optimal conditions. It was a good blow on a psychological level, but I moved forward and the following year saw the “rebirth” with the victory of the world championship in the four sculls together with Agostino Abbagnale, Rossano Galtarossa and Alessandro Corona.”
In Sydney the podium with five hoops in doubles.
«The bronze medal repaid me for many sacrifices. The year before I had returned to Sicily with the intention of staying there and putting the experience I had accumulated at the service of my land, but in September I was back in the water, in December I joined the blue gathering and convinced Agostino Abbagnale to share double with me for the winter season. Then the paths separated, in the specialty the strongest double was that of Galtarossa and Sartori. In view of the World Cup in Lucerne, director La Mura makes important choices for the Olympics, he brings Agostino back to the quadruple and I go to Lucerne with a new partner in the doubles. It turns out that Nicola Sartori and I, both coming from singles, are extremely compatible: the boat goes fast and in Sydney we take the bronze.”
