Simone Barlaam

Started: He began swimming at age three. He took up Para swimming in 2015 in Milan, Italy. (Athlete, 09 Sep 2019, 03 Dec 2017; alleyoop.ilsole24ore.com, 21 Dec 2017) Ambition: To compete at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, and to compete alongside non-Para swimmers at the Olympic Games. (paralympic.org, 14 Mar 2024; vanityfair.it, 12 Nov 2020; iitaly.org, 12 Feb 2019) Awards: He was named Best Male Summer Athlete at the 2023 Para Sport Awards organised by the International Paralympic Committee [IPC]. (swimmingworldmagazine.com, 28 Sep 2023) In 2017, 2019, 2021, and 2022 he received the Collare d'Oro al Merito Sportivo [Golden Collar for Sporting Merit] from the Italian National Olympic Committee [CONI]. (primamilanoovest.it, 23 Nov 2023; finp.it, 19 Dec 2017) He received the Diamond of Fame Award as Para Athlete of the Year for 2019 in Italy. (girohandbike.it, 25 Feb 2020) In 2019 he was presented with the Ambrogino d'Oro award by the city of Milan in Italy. (polimi.it, 26 Aug 2021) He was voted Best Male Swimmer at the 2019 World Championships in London, England, in a poll organised by World Para Swimming. (paralympic.org, 18 Oct 2019) Additional Info: YEAR DOWN UNDER In 2017 he spent a year in Sydney, NSW, Australia, where he continued his high school studies, learned English and prepared for the 2017 World Championships. "The turning point in my life was spending my year 11 of high school in Australia. It was the first time I had left home, my parents, my sister, and Italy. I went to a country on the other side of the world where I didn't know anyone. Spending a year overseas was a dream I'd had since I was a child. Leaving my comfort zone helped me grow as a person and start understanding how to achieve things. It opened my mind up. Now I define myself as a citizen of the world." (paralympic.org, 28 Mar 2019; ilgiorno.it, 22 Dec 2017; alleyoop.ilsole24ore.com, 21 Dec 2017; vanityfair.it, 12 Dec 2017) JOURNALIST FATHER His father Riccardo has worked as a journalist and made a documentary titled 'I Pesci Combattenti' [The Fighting Fish] about the Italian Para swimming team in the lead-up to the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. "The film introduced a lot of people to Italian Para swimmers, and now I am one of them," Simone said. (paralympic.org, 18 Oct 2019) EDUCATION AND FUTURE PLANS He hopes to become a prosthetic designer through his studies of mechanical engineering at the Polytechnic University of Milan in Italy. "I would like to become a mechanical engineer, and help create prostheses for various types of impairments. One of my dreams is to design the lightest prosthetic." He also plans to use his love for drawing in his future profession. "I'd like to publish a graphic novel or an illustration book. It is my way to reach nirvana, to isolate myself in a bubble. When I'm alone with the paper, I detach myself from the world." (vanityfair.it, 12 Nov 2020; Paralympic Games YouTube channel, 30 Sep 2020; corriere.it, 18 Mar 2020)