Historically speaking it was Rome that opened the door on this new discipline with the foundation of the first swimming club “Romana Nuoto” in 1889. The driving force behind the club was Romano Guerra, who was aided by the Trentino sculpture Achille Santoni, in building his pool on the banks of the Tiber. The name of the facility “Rari Nantes” curiosily takes inspiration from the verses of Aeneas, “Adparent rari nantes in gurgite vasto” (a few swimmers were seen in the vast sea). It draws attention to the depleted ranks of the discipline’s pioneers when challenging nature to swim any distance, in any conditions and in every season.

Today in Italy there are thousands of registered facilities and millions of swimmers signed up with the federal school; five million to be precise, who exercise in over 1200 clubs that are affiliated to FIN (The Italian Swimming Federation).