Swimmer specializing in the 400 meter medley who represented Italy at the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics. He medaled ten times at the World and European Championships during his most dominant period from 2004 to 2008.
He was trained at the famous Nannino Terranova swimming pool in Italy.
His bronze medal at the 2008 European Championships became silver after Greece's Ioannis Drymonakos was discovered to have used performance-enhancing drugs.
He was engaged to swimmer Federica Pellegrini before dating another Swimmer, Laure Manaudou.
He bested world record holder Laszlo Cseh to win gold at the 2006 European Short Course Swimming Championships.
