Ex-world champ swimmer saves newly-wed from drowning during beach trip
AN OLYMPIC swimmer was called into action to prevent a man from drowning. Former world champion Filippo Magnini was minding his own business on a Sardinian beach when he heard desperate cries for help. Magnini quickly realised the severity of the incident when he noticed Andrea Benedetto struggling in the ocean. According to the BBC, […]
AN OLYMPIC swimmer was called into action to prevent a man from drowning.
Former world champion Filippo Magnini was minding his own business on a Sardinian beach when he heard desperate cries for help.
Magnini quickly realised the severity of the incident when he noticed Andrea Benedetto struggling in the ocean.
According to the BBC, Benedetto had fallen off his Unicorn dinghy and was unable to move his limbs due to a medical condition.
His husband of two days was left trying to keep his head above water but Magnini had responded to cries from Benedetto’s friends on the beach.
He responded quicker than the lifeguards and wasted little time in helping the man keep his head above water before help arrived.
Speaking to Italy’s Corriere dello Sport: “The bather was in a lot of trouble: he was quite frightened, he was really stuck and had swallowed some seawater,
“When I reached him he wasn’t even able to speak, and it wasn’t easy to lift him on to the raft, so we laid him on an airbed that some other bathers had nearby.”
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Benedetto added: “When I became conscious my first thought was about my husband.
“A few hours after the accident I was at the hospital when I realised that Filippo Magnini was the man who saved my life but I didn’t have any chance to thank him as I have no contact with him. I hope to be able to thank him in person.”
Magnini won bronze in the 4x200m relay team at the 2004 Athens Olympics while winning two golds at the World Championships.
