Giovanni Gambi

Gianni Gambi was an Italian swimmer from the end of the 1920s and the beginning of the 30s. His competitive swimming career culminated in his appearance in the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics at the age of 21, but he failed to progress beyond the 1500m freestyle heats. From the following year Gambi became an open water specialist.

In 1929 Gambi enjoyed some notable victories including the Bacigalupo Cup, the “Due Ponti”, and the 4,700m Berlin Traversata, held in the cold waters of the River Spree in front of a crowd of around 250.000. Gambi later won the Bissolati Cup, the Traversata di Roma, the Adriatic Championship, the Italo Balbo Cup, and the Christmas Cup in Roma. Gambi continued to dominate open water competitions in 1930 and won races in Berlin, Roma, Venezia, Torino, Siracusa, Cremona and on the Seine in Paris. He lost only two races, both to Paolo Costoli. At the 1930 Darmstadt University Games, Gambi won the 400m and 1500m freestyle.

Gambi turned professional in 1931 and, after winning in Berlin for the third consecutive time, he raced in North America where he retired in the Ontario Marathon but won the Toronto Three Mile race. Having become very popular, he won several races on the very cold Canadian lakes. Known as the “Italian Express” he invested his earnings in the purchase of trotting horses, which he took to Italy to improve his father’s stable.