23-year-old Federico Poggio of Italy has been relatively quiet since having come in 15th place in the men’s 100m breaststroke at the 2020 Olympic Games.
Late last week Poggio posted on social media that he has taken a break from competition due to health issues. SwimSwam Italia followed up with an exclusive interview, with excerpts below.
“I have been fighting with my body for 12 months now. Although what just passed has been the most important season of my career so far, behind the scenes I have constantly fought a silent battle that has now emerged in all its strength ”.
The origin of his pains can be traced back to the first months of 2021:
“After a stop of about a month, I started 2021 with a lot of energy and enthusiasm, and I’m afraid I forced the body a bit to a pace that it could not support. A lot of joint inflammation soon developed. Initially it was enough for me to rest to recover complete functionality, but as the months went by and never made a total recovery it became a continuous chain reaction of injuries that never left me.
“During the European Championships in May I had reached a fairly good physical shape, and then things got worse again. The whole left side of my body was in trouble. A tendonitis in the left knee, the elbow in turn inflamed and then several pains that were triggered due to this decompensation such as groin pain and some adductor problems. In fact, from the European championship onwards I no longer swam loads of work but only tried to handcuff my state of form and luckily it was enough to grasp the Olympic pass “.
“In Tokyo I tried to live every moment, aware that my physical form was what it was. During training I hardly swam breaststroke and I was constantly in the infirmary for therapies, but once on the starting block I tried to put aside my thoughts and hold out for the time of the race. “
After the Olympic Games, Poggio took part in the International Swimming League for the Tokyo Frog Kings team:
“After the Games I was still very excited, and I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to participate in the ISL. I don’t know if it would have been better to stop then, but it is certainly complicated to decide to take a break after an Olympics and with so many new experiences ahead. The physical problems, however, instead of improving have gotten worse and about a month ago I said enough. I have to slow down, this time really. “
“There have been many complicated moments, and often the head has played a fundamental role. Seeing my unresponsive physique I fell flat and began to hate every minute I spent in the water. For this, and to cure myself, it is now necessary to take the space to put it back together. “
As for his future, Poggio states,
“I don’t know exactly what I’m going to do. But in the meantime I have started studying again, I have enrolled in sports science, and things are proceeding well out of the water. I am confident that by listening to my body and letting myself manage the charges based on how the body responds day by day, things will settle down, even if I don’t know how to give a timing. I am strengthened thanks to the people I have beside me, to my club and to the sporting group of the Blue Flames that supports me in this path. “
Great guy, great story!