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Italian Olympic champion Thomas Ceccon raised eyebrows on Saturday after posting a brief message to his Instagram story:
“Last race of my career tomorrow?!”
The wording — particularly the query mark and exclamation level — stopped in need of something resembling a proper retirement announcement. Still, coming from one in every of swimming’s greatest names, it instantly generated dialogue.
More importantly, it suits right into a dialog Ceccon himself has been having publicly for months.
The 2024 Olympic champion within the males’s 100 backstroke just lately appeared on the Sportiva-Mente podcast hosted by fellow Italian swimmers Lorenzo Zazzeri and Matteo Restivo, the place he brazenly mentioned motivation, stress, and the challenges that may comply with reaching the highest of the game.
“Basically, I don’t want to swim anymore,” Ceccon stated. “It’s a strong thing to say, but after winning the Olympics it becomes hard to find motivation again. Right now, I’m not at peace.”
The 24-year-old additionally touched on the monetary actuality of elite swimming.
“It’s true that you don’t make money in swimming. Either you become a huge Olympic champion, or it’s difficult.”
Ceccon has more and more spoken publicly in regards to the psychological facet of efficiency over the past yr, significantly following his coaching interval in Australia and racing schedule that included the China Swimming Open earlier this season.
At the 2026 Italian Championships in Riccione, Ceccon addressed these struggles straight after putting third within the males’s 200 backstroke.
“I changed the race plan before the start,” Ceccon instructed Rai Sport afterward. “Initially I wanted to go out controlled and build the race, but I did the opposite and it didn’t work.”
More notably, he added:
“I’m struggling to find the motivation to compete. I need to enjoy racing again. I need to go home, take a break, and get back to being an athlete.”
Those feedback aligned with ideas he had already shared earlier within the season after getting back from Australia.
“When something goes wrong, an athlete may need to be alone. Four years of work can disappear in a few seconds.”
He additionally acknowledged he’s nonetheless attempting to redefine his program transferring ahead.
“I want to understand which events to add or remove. I like the idea of versatility, like Michael Phelps.”
From a aggressive standpoint, Ceccon stays one of many sport’s most completed energetic swimmers.
He owns the world document within the males’s 100 backstroke and Italian LCM data within the 50m butterfly, 100m butterfly, and 200m backstroke. At the 2025 World Cup cease in Toronto, he additionally broke Italian SCM data in each the lads’s 200m backstroke (1:47.49) and 200m freestyle (1:41.60).
Which is why decoding one Instagram story as a definitive assertion would probably miss the bigger context.
For months, Ceccon has been candid about trying to find motivation after reaching the game’s highest purpose. Saturday’s story might merely be the newest glimpse into that course of quite than a sign that one in every of swimming’s greatest stars is stepping away.
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