Diego Mularoni

Diego Mularoni

Personal information
Full name	Diego Mularoni
National team	San Marino
Born	27 November 1979
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	76 kg (168 lb)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Freestyle
Medal record Men's swimming Representing San Marino Games of the Small States of Europe 1999 Vaduz 400 m freestyle 1999 Vaduz 1500 m freestyle 2001 San Marino 400 m freestyle 2001 San Marino 1500 m freestyle 2003 Valletta 400 m freestyle 2003 Valletta 1500 m freestyle 1997 Reykjavík 1500 m freestyle 1999 Vaduz 200 m freestyle 2001 San Marino 100 m freestyle 2001 San Marino 200 m freestyle 2003 Valletta 200 m freestyle 2003 Valletta 100 m freestyle 2003 Valletta 4×200 m freestyle

Diego Mularoni (born November 27, 1979) is a Sammarinese former swimmer, who specialized in freestyle events.^[1] He is a three-time Olympian (1996, 2000, and 2004), and a current Sammarinese record holder in the 100, 200, 400, and 1500 m freestyle since 2001. He has won a total of 13 medals (six golds, five silver, and two bronze) at the Games of the Small States of Europe.

Mularoni made his official debut, as San Marino's only swimmer (aged 16), at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. He failed to reach the top 16 final in the 100 m freestyle, finishing in fifty-ninth place with a time of 57.11.^[2]

In 1999, Mularoni reached his breakthrough in swimming, when he earned two gold medals each in the 400 and 1500 m freestyle at the Games of the Small States of Europe (GSSE) in Vaduz, Liechtenstein.

Mularoni also proved his strength in long-distance swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, when he decided to compete in the 1500 m freestyle, which was later dominated by host nation Australia's Grant Hackett. Swimming in heat two, he rounded out a field of six swimmers to last place and thirty-ninth overall in 16:12.91.^[3]

When San Marino hosted the 2001 Games of the Small States of Europe in Serravalle, Mularoni managed to defend titles in the 400 m freestyle (3:56.73) and 1500 m freestyle (15:57.20). He also set two Sanmarinese records each to earn silver medals in the 100 m freestyle (52.83) and 200 m freestyle (1:53.70).^[4]

At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Mularoni was elected by the Sammarinese National Olympic Committee (Italian: Comitato Olimpico Nazionale Sammarinese), as San Marino's top swimmer, to be the flag bearer in the opening ceremony.^[5][6] He qualified only for the men's 200 m freestyle by clearing a FINA B-standard entry time of 1:53.87 from GSSE in Valletta, Malta.^[7] He challenged seven other swimmers in heat three, including 16-year-old Shaune Fraser of the Cayman Islands. He rounded out the field to last place by a 3.16-second margin behind winner Aleksandar Malenko of Macedonia in 1:56.18. Mularoni failed to advance into the semifinals, as he placed fifty-sixth overall in the preliminaries.^[8][9]

References

1. "Diego Mularoni". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
2. "Atlanta 1996: Aquatics (Swimming) – Men's 100m Freestyle Heat 1" (PDF). Atlanta 1996. LA84 Foundation. p. 36. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
3. "Sydney 2000: Swimming – Men's 1500m Freestyle Heat 2" (PDF). Sydney 2000. LA84 Foundation. p. 141. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
4. "Arnarson, Iceland Dominate Euro Small States Champs". Swimming World Magazine. 21 June 2001. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
5. "IOC Latest News: Flag Bearers for the Opening Ceremony". Olympics. 13 August 2004. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
6. "La delegazione Sammarinese per le Olimpiadi 2004" [The delegation of San Marino for the 2004 Olympics] (in Italian). SMtv San Marino. 31 July 2004. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
7. "Swimming – Men's 200m Freestyle Startlist (Heat 3)" (PDF). Athens 2004. Omega Timing. Retrieved 19 April 2013.
8. "Men's 200m Freestyle Heat 3". Athens 2004. BBC Sport. 15 August 2004. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
9. Thomas, Stephen (15 August 2004). "Men's 200 Freestyle Prelims: Thorpe Fastest in 1:47.22; Hoogie, Keller, Phelps and Hackett All in the Mix". Swimming World Magazine. Retrieved 27 March 2013.