Italian Swimmers Compete at European Championships
Today is an important day at the European Aquatics Championships for swimming.
Several Italian swimmers, known as the azzurri, are competing in different events.
One of them, Curtis, has already won a gold medal. She also broke the world record in the 50m backstroke.
This means she swam the fastest time ever recorded for that race.
Other well-known Italian swimmers, including Quadarella, Ceccon, and D'Ambrosio, are also racing today.
They are all taking part in the finals, which are the most important races of the competition.
Fans and viewers are following the events live, watching the races as they happen.
Many people are hoping that more Italian athletes will add to the country's medal count.
The European Aquatics Championships bring together the best swimmers from across Europe.
Each day of the competition includes several finals in different swimming styles, such as backstroke, freestyle, and breaststroke.
The event is being closely watched by swimming fans in Italy, who are proud of their team's early success.
Vocabulary10 words
- European Aquatics Championships
- a big swimming contest between European countries
- azzurri
- a nickname for Italian sports teams, meaning 'blues'
- gold medal
- a prize given for coming first place
- world record
- the best result ever achieved in the world
- finals
- the last and most important races in a competition
- live
- happening and being watched at the same time
- backstroke
- a swimming style done while lying on your back
- freestyle
- a fast swimming style, often called front crawl
- breaststroke
- a swimming style where arms move in a circle
- medal count
- the total number of medals a country has won
Quiz
Answer key
1. The European Aquatics Championships 2. She won gold and set a world record in the 50m backstroke 3. True
Fill-in-the-blank listening
Play the audio again and fill in the missing words as you listen.
Today is an important day at the _____ for swimming.
Several Italian swimmers, known as the _____, are competing in different events.
One of them, Curtis, has already won a _____ medal.
She also broke the _____ record in the 50m backstroke.
This means she swam the fastest time ever recorded for that _____.
Other well-known Italian swimmers, including Quadarella, Ceccon, and D'Ambrosio, are also racing _____.
They are all taking part in the _____, which are the most important races of the competition.
Fans and viewers are following the events _____, watching the races as they happen.
Many people are hoping that more Italian athletes will add to the country's _____.
Each day of the competition includes several finals in different swimming styles, such as backstroke, freestyle, and _____.
Discussion questions
- Why do you think swimming competitions like this are important for a country's sports fans?
- What do you think it feels like to break a world record?
- Have you ever watched a swimming competition live? What was it like?
- Why might it be exciting for a country to have several athletes competing in finals on the same day?