Giorgio Lamberti

Infobox Swimmer
swimmername=Giorgio Lamberti


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fullname = Giorgio Lamberti
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nationality = ITA
strokes = Freestyle
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birthdate = birth date and age|1969|1|28
birthplace = Brescia, Lombardy
deathdate =
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height = height|m=1.83
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Giorgio Lamberti (born January 28, 1969) is a former Italian swimmer.

wimming career

Lamberti was born in Brescia, Lombardy.

At age six, his body weak and frail, doctors suggested swimming to build himself up. He began swimming competitively. At age 17, in 1986 he won his first Italian National Championship. His swimming physique was light and thin, but his heart was unstoppable and he was provided with a noteworthy tactical intelligence.

Lamberti was named as part of Italy's 1986 World Championship team. Lamberti finished in the "B" final in the 200m freestyle and was on the 4x100m freestyle relay, but he was on his way to becoming European and World Champion.

After a coaching change, Alberto Castagnetti took over as club coach and became Lamberti’s mentor for his career. In 1988, in Bonn, Lamberti set short course world records in both the 200m and 400m freestyle. In spite of this promising result, seven months later, at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Giorgio finished a disappointing 12th place. The burden of preparing for his final academic examinations and the constant hounding by the Italian press towards this new and exciting rising star of Italian swimming took its toll on Lamberti’s performance. Therefore, he decided to take a short break.

At the 1989 European Championships in Bonn, Lamberti began to excel again. He was gold medallist in both the 100m freestyle and the 200m freestyle. His 200m freestyle race was a world record at 1:46.69, which stood for ten years until broken by Grant Hackett of Australia in Brisbane, 1999. This ten-year period is the longest period of time in which any individual has held the 200m freestyle world record since Freddy Lane set the first recorded record of 2:28.6 on August 18, 1902. Lamberti's gold medals included the 4x200m freestyle relay.

At the 1991 World Championships in Perth, Australia, Lamberti showed he was the fastest swimmer in the world in the 200m freestyle. He won a second medal as a member of Italy’s 4x200m freestyle relay team. He competed later in the year at his third European Championship, winning the silver medal in the 200m freestyle, only .05 seconds behind Arthur Wojdat, and the bronze medal in the 100m freestyle and 400m freestyle behind Alexander Popov and Yevgeny Sadovyi respectively.

Giorgio competed also at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, but he placed only fifth with the 4x200m freestyle relay. In spite of Lamberti's status of fastest Italian swimmer of all times, Italy would have to wait for the later appearance of swimmers like Massimiliano Rosolino and Domenico Fioravanti to finally score a gold medal in Olympic Games.

Retirement

After retirement in 1993, Giorgio has served in numerous swimming capacities including the 1994 Rome World Championship Organizing Committee, the Brescia Provincial Delegate to the Italian Swimming Federation (FIN), president of the G.A.M. Team Sport Society of FIN and the Italian Disability Sport Federation, as well as a consultant to other swimming and sport organizations.

In 2004 Giorgio Lamberti was added to the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

World championship results

* 1991 World Aquatics Championships: gold medal in the 200m freestyle
* 1991 World Aquatics Championships: bronze medal in the 100m freestyle relay
* 1991 World Aquatics Championships: bronze medal in the 4x200m freestyle relay

References

* [http://www.agendadiana.com/visualizza_atleta.php?id=49 Giorgio Lamberti on agendadiana.com]