Sergio De Gregorio

Cheerful, vibrant and unpredictable, Sergio De Gregorio would certainly have been a top star in life, no matter his choosing. He was considered a force of nature and after meeting with the manager and Olympian Paolo Costoli his life was much more regular. In 1964, at 18, he was the best freestyler in Italy. After competing at Tokyo Olympics, his best year was 1965. He helped the national team to an historical victory in the Six Nations event in Roma, defeating Great Britain, Sweden, Netherlands, West Germany and France. In his short career De Gregorio won five Italian titles in the 200, 400 and 1500 metre freestyles and set a total of 16 Italian records (8 in individual events), earning 16 caps with the National team.

At the beginning of 1966 he was called to compete in the important Bremen’s meeting, but while traveling to that meet, on the evening of 28 January, De Gregorio died in an aviation crash alongside Olympians Bruno Bianchi and Dino Rora, and several other swimmers – Amedeo Chimisso, Carmen Longo, Daniela Samuele, Luciana Massenzi, the coach and Olympian between the two World Wars Paolo Costoli and the well-known sports commentator Nico Sapio. At the funeral in Roma every coffin was covered by an Olympic flag.