Vegan medals at Masters diving nationals

Massimo took third place in the 1 metre springboard, and second in the 3 metre springboard. He then entered the 3 metre synchro springboard with his partner Raul, and took another third. Massimo and Raul then took another third at the synchro platform.

The next step is the European Championships in Rome this August.

“Now we need to accelerate” Massimo says. “There will be many strong participants from different countries.”

He will be continuing his dedication to the sport.

Effort and reward

“This year I trained a lot, even up to 6 times a week. I did a lot of training in the gym, especially as regards physical preparation: exercises for the legs, abs and shoulders. I strengthened my neck which due to an accident had forced me to abandon the sport of diving.

“We didn’t do many water workouts due to limited availability of our sports facility and this certainly didn’t help our preparation.”

The hard work is paying off. “This year to my surprise my lean mass has increased and at my age (59 in July) it is interesting.”

Massimo also paid tribute to his wife who supported him through four days of competition at the Masters nationals.

“Three times a week I work out in the gym with her in a fitness center in Rome, she is the one who drags me and makes me do regular strengthening and toning exercises. We follow group lessons using steps, dumbbells and barbells.”

Massimo has been vegan since 2008 and founded the Veggie Channel to promote veganism. He was working in communication at the time and made the change.

“I left everything and founded Veggie Channel, the first Italian web TV dedicated to promoting the vegan lifestyle. To date we have produced more than 1300 videos and we are considered the most authoritative network on vegan lifestyle.”

Massimo’s profile

Veggie Channel