Strait of Messina

The first timed crossing

The history of the Strait crossings is kept by the swimmers of Messina. The most complete account was written by Nino Fazio, a swimmer and founder of Baiadigrotta.it, based on his research, the book by Reggio-based timekeeper Pasquale Nucara Mille e più traversate a nuoto dello Stretto di Messina (1930-2007), the memories of Francesco Di Fede, and the archive of the Messina timekeepers. Fazio only counts timed crossings performed according to open-water swimming rules: no wetsuits, no fins, and no stops on the boat.

Using this criterion, the first crossing took place on September 26, 1930. Giuseppe Dominici, a seventeen-year-old from Messina born in Bagnara Calabra, crossed the Strait in 52 min 37 s, accompanied by the timekeeper, instructor Lillo Bensaja, and Umberto Mafera of the Canottieri Thalatta, who was also present as a representative of the Italian Swimming Federation. At the time, there was talk in Messina of an Englishman, Winchler or more likely Winkler, who had supposedly crossed it earlier in about 55 min, but without race officials.

In 1933, Pietro Coppola, from Villa San Giovanni, made the first double crossing in about three hours; a record of this is kept in the Messina timekeepers' archive, but without precise details. The names Albonico, Perè, and Sorbara appear for crossings made before 1940, without any official testimony.

Nino Musciumarra, the Shark of the Strait

Nino Musciumarra was born in Catania on January 6, 1921, and moved to Messina with his family as a child. He entered the Strait on September 10, 1949, for the first race held between the two shores: about 12 km (7.5 mi) from the Ringo district of Messina to Reggio Calabria Lido, organized by ENAL. To participate, one needed a federation membership, a 6 km (3.7 mi) trial, and a medical examination, and he had none of the three. He started anyway, swimming breaststroke and without goggles, while the organization's boats tried to stop him, even with oar strikes. He finished second, unofficially, behind Domenico Adamo and ahead of all the regular competitors. The Gazzetta del Sud called him "a bizarre and rebellious individual".

In the following years, he swam the Strait Crossing with CUS Messina: in the curriculum that Baiadigrotta dedicates to him, nine placements appear between 1954 and 1969. During the same period, he became the reference point for those who wanted to cross alone. When the American Mary Margaret Revell arrived in Mortelle in April 1963, CUS Messina entrusted him with the organization of her crossing.

In September of that year, Musciumarra followed the same route, extended to the center of Messina. On September 10, 1963, he started from the Lido di Mortelle, touched the beach of Cannitello, and returned to Sicily in front of the Batteria Masotto square, at the Passeggiata a Mare, in 5 h 43 min. On August 18, 1964, he repeated the double in 5 h 22 min. Arriving in the city center, among the people leaning over the railings, made him "the Shark of the Strait" for the people of Messina^5.

With him was always the same team: boatman Francesco Longo, known as "Don Ciccio Pisci Bonu," timekeeper Franz Benecchi, doctor Giulio Santoro, his wife Maria Dominici, and her brother, photographer Venerando Dominici. In the seventies, he accompanied Graziella De Gregorio, Franco Di Fede, Giovanni Fiannacca, Paolo Pinto, Gianni Golini, and little Agatella Malvagna. He worked at the shipyards and trained during his breaks, climbing over the perimeter wall to swim a few strokes.

His last great crossing started on October 5, 1983, from the San Raineri lighthouse in the port of Messina. He touched the beach of Gallico, near Reggio Calabria, and headed south toward Taormina. A counter-current at Capo Sant'Alessio stopped him at Letojanni, where he arrived at two in the morning, after 17 h 35 min; he was 62 years old^6. In 1988, at 67, he made his last two Strait crossings in the Scilla e Cariddi race, reaching 24 in his lifetime. He died on April 4, 2009, at 88. Since 2009, the Trofeo Baia di Grotta has awarded the Nino Musciumarra Cup to the first woman to cross the finish line.

The Strait Crossing

In 1954, the Sporting Club of Villa San Giovanni, chaired by Rosario Calì, created a race to bring the best Italian long-distance swimmers to the Strait every year. The first edition was swum on September 5, 1954, from Ganzirri to the church of Cannitello, over about 4,200 meters (2.6 mi), and was won by the Tuscan Giacomo Loffredo. From the following year, the start was at Capo Peloro and the finish at Villa San Giovanni. Francesco Giovacchini won in 1956, Salvatore Verdini in 1957, Giovanni Paliaga in 1958 and 1959, Roberto Passariello in 1960, Giancarlo Spigno in 1961, and Giulio Travaglio in 1962. The 1963 edition, the sole event of the Italian long-distance championship, was won by water polo player Mattia Aversa, who guessed the best current and left the favorite, Travaglio, behind^7.

After an interruption, the race was swum again in 1969 and 1973, then switched to fin swimming for 29 editions. The last one in free swimming, the 1973 edition, was won by Giovanni Fiannacca from Messina in 44 min 10 s. The Crossing returned to free swimming in 2006, organized by the Centro Nuoto Sub Villa and included in the Italian Swimming Federation's Grand Prix. Simone Ercoli won in 2006, Simone Menoni in 2007, Rodolfo Valenti in 2008, Andrea Volpini in 2009 with 40 min 28 s thanks to a very favorable current, Marco Buccioni in 2010, and Ercoli again in 2011, when the race was swum against the current for long stretches and the winner took 1 h 17 min^8. The 2019 Port Authority ordinance still reserves the first Sunday of August for the traditional race.

Between 1986 and 1990, CUS Messina organized the Scilla e Cariddi, five editions on five different routes. The first, on July 27, 1986, covered 16 km (9.9 mi) from Scilla to the Batteria Masotto and was won by Mauro Millauro in 3 h 25 min. In 1989, it was the Italian absolute long-distance championship, 20 km (12.4 mi) from the beach of Mortelle to Cannitello and back to Messina. Between 1991 and 2000, the Polisportiva Albatros organized nine editions of the Trofeo Albatros, a competitive crossing for athletes with disabilities; Rosario Savegnani won seven of them^1.

The first women

The first woman to cross the Strait was Margherita Sabatini from Turin, fifth overall in the 1958 Crossing and third the following year. The first female solo crossing was that of Mary Margaret Revell, 25, from Shafter, California. On April 16, 1963, with the water at no more than 15 °C (59 °F), she started from Mortelle, touched Cannitello, and returned to Sicily in the Fortino di Pace district, in 5 h 22 min^11.

In 1973, Graziella De Gregorio from Messina crossed breaststroke in just over an hour, a record that stood for over thirty years; in 1974, she also did the double breaststroke in 3 h 29 min 2 s, which is still the female record^1. On July 31, 1977, eight-year-old Agatella Malvagna from Catania finished in 41 min 47 s, a female record. On July 18, 1982, Monia Scalzo, an eleven-year-old from Morbegno, lowered it to 38 min 6 s, and it held for 27 years. It was surpassed in 2009 by Elena Lionello, who in the same swim also did the return in 1 h 23 min 41 s, the best time ever for the double at that moment. The female record today is held by Sarah Iannello, from Milazzo, with 35 min on July 20, 2018, at 16 years old.

Fiannacca and the race for the record

In the seventies, the Strait became the ground for record challenges, which attracted swimmers from all over Italy. Giovanni Fiannacca, from the Pace district of Messina, after his race victory in 1973, tried twice more that summer, on a free route and accompanied by his father^1. On September 13, 1973, he finished in 37 min 36 s, the first under 40 min. On September 20, 1975, Paolo Pinto from Bari went down to 36 min 42 s, with Musciumarra and Don Ciccio Longo in the boat. Eleven days later, on October 1, Fiannacca returned to the water and did 30 min 50 s. On October 1, 1976, he brought the double record to 1 h 37 min 16 s; it held until December 26, 1998, when Francesco Cacopardo beat it in the middle of winter.

Fiannacca named his boat, the Don Ninai, after his father. As a boatman, he accompanied many swimmers: his name appears in the register as a boatman in 46 single and double crossings, according to our count. In 2007, he guided Fabrizio Mandanici from Panarea to Vulcano, about 33 km (20.5 mi) between four Aeolian islands.

Nino Fazio

Nino Fazio was born in Messina in 1961, started swimming in 1984, and made his first crossing in 1986, in the Scilla e Cariddi, with Musciumarra in the boat alongside him^13. Musciumarra, he writes, had "thrown him into the sea," and he dedicated the history of the crossings to his memory. In 1988, when an injury prevented him from swimming freestyle, he crossed breaststroke from Calabria to Sicily^13. On August 28, 2009, at 48, he finished the single in 35 min 28 s. On September 2, 2010, with Giovanni Arena at the helm, he did the double in 1 h 22 min 23 s, the record that the register still reports today^1. In the Aeolian Islands, he swam three times from Vulcano to Capo Calavà, 21 km (13 mi), and holds the record for that crossing with 5 h 35 min 5 s, set in 2006. On his page, he counts 23 Strait crossings, between solo swims and races.

In 2004, he created Baiadigrotta.it and published the register of crossings online; according to his account, from that moment on, the number of those wanting to cross began to grow again^1.

Giovanni Arena

Giovanni Arena is from Torre Faro, a professional helmsman, fisherman, and swimmer. In 2008, Fazio writes, he began to establish himself as one of the most successful boatmen, and since then his name is the one that appears most often in the register: according to our count, he appears as a boatman in 108 single and double crossings from 2006 to 2026. With him at the helm, the absolute and female records for the single and the record for the double were swum. He also guided the double of Finy Fichera at 82 years old, the crossing of Gaia Cautela at 7, and those of several athletes with disabilities^1.

Arena also swims. In the summer of 2009, in three days in a row, he guided the crossings of Pietro Mondello and Nino Fazio and then crossed himself, on August 29, in 39 min 44 s^1. On September 18, 2011, at 54, with his nephew Paolo Arena at the helm, he finished in 37 min 8 s.

Andrea Fazio and today's times

Fiannacca's record lasted forty years. On September 2, 2015, it was beaten by Andrea Fazio, Nino's son, born in Messina in 2000: 30 min 6 s at 15 years old, with Giovanni Arena at the helm^14. Andrea crossed again in 2017 in 32 min 35 s and on August 19, 2023, in 30 min 17 s.

Multiple crossings also have their own history. In 1982, Gianni Golini did six consecutive crossings in four strokes, in almost eleven hours. Walter D'Angelo from Milan did six freestyle crossings on August 29, 2013, and on September 18, 2025, seven without interruption, in 7 h 48 min 6 s.