The countdown to the 28th edition of the Swimmeeting Southtirol has begun. Since 1997, the SSV Bolzano has been bringing the world class to Bolzano on the first weekend in November. This year, the event will be on the 2nd and 3rd November and is, once again, the first highlight of the short course season in Italy. The meeting, which has been taking place for 27 years (even in the Corona year there was a regional edition) was presented this morning at the SSV Bozen headquarters. Also present was Walter Taranto, President of the South Tyrolean branch of the Italian Swimming Federation, who had plenty of praise for the organisers led by Christian Mattivi: ‘For many years, the organisers have managed to bring top athletes to Bolzano, which is not easy. For our federation, the meeting in Bolzano is the starting event for the new season.’ It will be no different in just over two weeks' time in 2024. ‘The start of the season after the Olympic Games never comes easy,’ admits COC Mattivi. Four months after the Games in Paris, a new cycle will begin, culminating in the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles. ‘One week after Bolzano, the Nico Sapio Meeting will take place in Genoa, followed a week later by the Italian Short Course Championships in Riccione. Our meeting also overlaps with the World Cup in Asia,’ says Mattivi. The Swiss Noè Ponti, serial winner in the last three years in Bolzano, and the Italian Olympic champions Thomas Ceccon and Nicolò Martinenghi are also involved there. Nevertheless, the organisers have once again succeeded in signing up some swimmers of international renown. Starting with Alessandro Miressi. The 26-year-old from Turin will be the big attraction at the Swimmeeting this year. His track record includes three Olympic medals. A few months ago in Paris, he won bronze with Italy's 4 x 100 m freestyle relay team, as he did in Tokyo in 2021. Miressi also won bronze in the 4x100m freestyle at the World Championships in Doha in February, as well as silver in the 100m freestyle. He also won gold on his favourite distance at the 2021 World Short Course Championships in Abu Dhabi. Miressi holds the Italian records on the long course in 47.45 (2021 European Championships in Budapest) and in the 25-metre pool in 45.51 (2023 European Championships in Otopeni). ‘Miressi is certainly capable of beating Marco Orsi's meeting record, which has stood at 46.98 seconds for nine years,’ says Mattivi. ‘But he has strong competitors from within his national team.’ Ludovico Viberti, who finished on the podium with Miressi at the World Championships in Doha, is going to compete in Bolzano too. Simone Stefanì, who won three times in Bolzano in 2021 and took gold in the 50 m backstroke at the 2022 Mediterranean Games in Algeria, has also confirmed his attendance. Alessandro Bori (European champion with Italy in the 4 x 100 m freestyle two years ago in Rome) and the US American Zach Harting, a specialist in the 200 m dolphin, are also taking part. The Russian Nika Godun and the Italian Alessia Polieri (who turns 30 on the 21th October), 18-time Italian champion and 2010 European silver medallist in the short course, have also signed up for the women's event. As always, the best three series (top 24) in each discipline (over 50 and 100 metres) will take place in a compact form on Saturday between 4 pm and 6 pm and on Sunday between 1 pm and 3 pm to guarantee swimming fans an intense experience. The Swimmeeting Southtirol is endowed with a total prize money of 19.130 Euros. Event records are worth between 250 euros and 1000 Euros (if they are older than three years). By the way… The oldest record is held by Nick Thoman from the USA, who swam the 100 m backstroke in 50.32 seconds 15 years ago. The most successful participant in Bolzano: Thomas Rupprath with 18 victories The most successful participant in Bolzano was Thomas Rupprath from Germany, who competed in Bolzano six times and won 18 times between 2001 and 2008. In 2001 and 2002, he managed five victories in one weekend. Noè Ponti equalled this record in 2022. Fabio Scozzoli, Italy's breaststroke champion who ended his career a year ago, appears in second place on the all-time list of winners. Scozzoli has 17 victories to his name in the valley city. He won the 100 m breaststroke eight times between 2009 and 2018. A swimmer from Germany is third on the podium. Janine Pietsch has celebrated 16 victories in Bolzano, six of which were in the 50 m backstroke. Behind her are the ‘bomber’ Marco Orsi with 13 first places (six times in the 100 m freestyle), US champion Natalie Coughlin (11) and Noè Ponti, who has ten wins after his three victories last year. The three athletes with eight victories also include Laura Letrari from South Tyrol, who ended her career in the summer of 2022. She won the 100 m IM six times between 2009 and 2021