The captain of the national swimming team raced a pair of
dolphins — King, 19 years old, and Leah, nine-years old — at a specially
arranged event in a swimming pool in Torvaianica, about 50 km south of Rome.
The dolphins had to swim about twice as many lengths as
Magnini, but they overtook him to win in the last few meters.
“I never had such tough opponents,” joked the two-time world
champion. But he said he “fell a bit in love with dolphin Leah” and hoped to
see her again.
Magnini — nicknamed Superpippo — won gold in the 100-meter
freestyle at the 2005 world swimming championships in Montreal and at the 2007 event
in Melbourne.