Carlotta Gilli

Started: She began swimming with non-disabled swimmers at age nine in Turin, Italy, and took up Para swimming in 2017. "It took a lot of convincing to push me to take the step. Then, in 2017, I took part in a competition in Berlin [Germany] and I realised that it was swimming, there was nothing different." (corriere.it, 17 Aug 2023; Athlete, 09 Sep 2019) Reason: She was taken to a pool by her parents for health reasons. "Swimming is my life. I can't imagine a life without swimming, training, going to competitions and being with my team." (Athlete, 09 Sep 2019, 03 Dec 2017; paralympic.org, 30 May 2019) Ambition: To compete at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (mediasetinfinity.mediaset.it, 15 Jan 2024) Awards: In 2017, 2019, and 2021 she received the Collare d'Oro al Merito Sportivo, the highest honour awarded by the Italian National Olympic Committee [CONI]. (gds.it, 20 Dec 2021; Instagram profile, 20 Dec 2021; Facebook page, 24 Feb 2020; finp.it, 19 Dec 2017; rarinantestorino.com, 17 Dec 2019) In 2021 she received the Award of Excellence for Sport and was featured in the 100 Italian Excellences, an annual book of 100 stories released by the RDE publishing house in Italy. (Instagram profile, 21 Dec 2021; redazionenews.it, 17 Dec 2021) In 2019 and 2021 she was named Piedmontese Athlete of the Year in Italy, as voted for by sports journalists. (nuoto.com, 07 Dec 2021; finp.it, 10 Dec 2019) She was voted Best Female Swimmer at the 2019 World Championships in London, England. (paralympic.org, 01 Oct 2019) In January 2018 she received the Sports Scroll from the city of Turin, Italy. (torinoclick.it, 17 Jan 2018) She was named the 2017 Piedmontese of the Year by the readers of news website Quotidiano Piemontese. (quotidianopiemontese.it, 29 Jan 2018) Additional Info: COMPETITION OVER TRAINING She says she favours competing rather than training. She has taken part in non-Para swimming competitions in Italy. "I like this balance very, very much. I started out competing only with them [non-Para swimmers] and then I arrived in the Paralympic world. So I think that personally it's very, very important that I continue to compete there because I can watch those athletes in competition [and] how they prepare. I really like doing the competitions and I don't really like the training, so I always do a lot of competitions throughout the year. Friends think that I'm crazy and sometimes say, 'Come on, just relax for a weekend', but I say that I prefer doing competitions. When I have the opportunity to compete, I go for it." (paralympic.org, 30 May 2019) BOOK Her autobiography titled 'Una Luce Nell'acqua' [A Light in the Water] was released in 2023. She co-wrote the book alongside Italian author Mauro Giorgini. "The desire was to tell myself in 360 degrees. People know me for the athlete I am, but not so much for the person I am. In these pages I wanted to bring out the human side, as well as tell the athlete's anecdotes and curiosities. Make Carlotta known, make people understand what I do and what messages I want to send through sport." (gazzetta.it, 30 Jul 2023)