Valerio Cleri

From Openwaterpedia

Valerio Cleri (born 19 June 1981 in Palestrina) is a 2-time Olympian and world-class distance freestyle swimmer from Italy who primarily competes in open water swimming. He is a world champion and finished 4th at the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He also finished 17th at the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim at the 2012 London Olympics. He competed in the 10K Marathon Swim placing 11th at the 2011 FINA World Championshipsin Shanghai, China and is coached by Emanuele Sacchi.

Nato a Palestrina il 19 giugno 1981; è un atleta in forza al Centro Sportivo Olimpico dell’Esercito (C.S.O.E.) attivo sia in vasca, dove ha iniziato la sua carriera internazionale nel 1999 partecipando agli Europei giovanili di Mosca e alla Universiade di Daegu, in Corea del sud, che nelle acque libere dove ha ottenuto i primi successi nel 2006, sia in Italia, diventando campione di fondo, sia partecipando ai campionati europei e ai mondiali. Il 25 luglio 2009 ottiene la medaglia d’oro ai Campionati mondiali di nuoto 2009 di Roma nella 25 km di fondo. È il primo maschio italiano a vincere la gara dei 25 km di fondo ai campionati mondiali.

Si è superato nel 2010, vincendo l’oro nella gara dei 10 km e l’argento in quella dei 25 km ai mondiali di Roberval, in Canada, seguito da un argento e da un oro agli europei di Budapest rispettivamente nella 10 e nella 25 km di fondo. Non ha avuto successo ai mondiali cinesi di Shanghai del 2011, con un undicesimo posto e un ritiro nelle due gare a cui ha partecpato.

Ha avuto come primo allenatore Cristiano De Poli, ora il suo tecnico è Emanuele Sacchi. Oltre alle medaglie europee e mondiali che ha vinto, ha ottenuto grandi risultati nella coppa europea di fondo del 2005 (secondo), in quella del mondo del 2007 dove è giunto terzo, e del 2008, che ha vinto ottenendo quattro primi, un terzo e un quarto posto in gara.

Contents 1 Career 2 Medals 2.1 World Championships 2.2 World Open Water Championships 2.3 European Aquatics Championships 3 2012 Olympic 10K Marathon Swim Results 4 Video 5 External links

Career

Cleri won the gold medal in the 25 km race at the 2009 World Swimming Championships in Rome in front of a roaring home country crowd in extraordinarily rough conditions. At the 2010 FINA World Open Water Swimming Championships in Canada he won the gold medal in the ultra-competitive 10 km distance in cold water in lac St-Jean in Roberval, Quebec.

He also narrowly lost the gold medal in an inspirational 25 km silver medal performance. At the 2010 European Swimming Championships in Budapest, Hungary he won silver medal over the 10 km distance and gold medal over the 25 km distance.

He is considered one of the top swimmers for the upcoming 2011 World Swimming Championships in the 10 km distance. If he qualifies for the 2012 London Olympics, he will be considered one of the pre-race medal favorites in the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim to be held in Hyde Park on August 10th 2012.

Medals

World Championships

• Gold 2009 Rome 25km Open Water

World Open Water Championships

• Gold 2010 Roberval 10km Open Water
• Silver 2010 Roberval 25km Open Water

European Aquatics Championships

• Gold 2010 Budapest 25km Open Water
• Silver 2010 Budapest 10km Open Water

2012 Olympic 10K Marathon Swim Results

1. Oussama Mellouli of Tunisia - 1:49:55.1
2. Thomas Lurz of Germany - 1:49:58.5
3. Richard Weinberger of Canada - 1:50:00.3
4. Spyridon Gianniotis of Greece - 1:50:05.3
5. Daniel Fogg of Great Britain - 1:50:37.3
6. Sergey Bolshakov of Russia - 1:50:40.1
7. Vladimir Dyatchin of Russia - 1:50:42.8
8. Andreas Waschburger of Germany - 1:50:44.4
9. Petar Stoychev of Bulgaria - 1:50:46.2
10. Alex Meyer of the USA - 1:50:48.2
11. Julien Sauvage of France - 1:50:51.3
12. Troyden Prinsloo of South Africa - 1:50:52.9
13. Erwin Maldonado of Venezuela - 1:50:52.9
14. Igor Chervynskiy of Ukraine - 1:50:56.9
15. Yasunari Hirai of Japan - 1:51:20.1
16. Brian Ryckeman of Belgium - 1:51:27.1
17. Valerio Cleri of Italy - 1:51:29.5
18. Csaba Gercsak of Hungary - 1:51:30.9
19. Arseniy Lavrentyev of Portugal - 1:51:37.2
20. Ky Hurst of Australia - 1:51:41.3
21. Ivan Enderica Ochoa of Ecuador - 1:52:28.6
22. Yuriy Kudinov of Kazakhstan - 1:52:59.0
23. Francisco Jose Hervas of Spain - 1:53:27.8
24. Mazen Aziz Metwaly of Egypt - 1:54:33.2
25. Benjamin Schulte of Guam - 2:03:35.1

Video

External links

• 2012 Olympic Marathon Swimming 10km Coverage
• 2012 Olympic Marathon Swimming - Male Medal Contenders
• Valerio Cleri blog
• Open Water Swimming website
• Valerio Cleri Career
• 4th Is A Powerful Olympic Motivator
• Alex Meyer vs. Cleri after 15
• Valerio Cleri Makes it 2 for 2 for Italy
• See You In London - Male Olympic Marathon Swimmers
• Valerio Cleri and Ana Marcela Cunha voted Best Athletes
• Linsy Heister and Valerio Cleri Win European Awards
• Italy Wins, America Second, Russia Third
• The Strong Italian National Open Water Team
• Italian Stars to Shine at Castel
• 2012 London Olympics - The Men of Open Water Swimming
• 34 Countries on 5 Continents in London Olympics