Becoming a princess was never her childhood dream. From a very young age, in fact, the Roman champion had clear ideas: she wanted to become a swimmer. She inherited her passion from her instructor father and shared it for years with her older sister, Erica, her reference point. Not yet eighteen years old, and after numerous victories at the youth level, she made herself known to the world in 2014 by winning the title of youth Olympic champion of the 800m freestyle in Nanjing. Five years ago, she missed the summons to the Olympic Games in Rio by making a mistake during the decisive race, but that unexpected misstep was the turning point of her career. At her first world championships, in 2017, she immediately won a bronze medal. The following year she scored a historic hat-trick at the European Championships in Glasgow, winning the 1,500, 800 and 400 metres. The final blessing came last summer when she became World Champion in the 1,500m while also recording the new national record. From the disappointment of Rio to a key figure in the Olympics: with her dreams of becoming a swimmer achieved, her next goal is to leave a new indelible mark in the history of Italian swimming.