The stopwatch stopped after 6 hours and 5 minutes.
The crossing that Mattia Minetto made today took a long time, starting at dawn from the central beach of Santa Maria Navarrese to the Maty beach bathing establishment in Orrì, on the coast of Tortolì . Thirteen kilometers and 400 meters of swimming, without great importance of style or result, for a prestigious prize: to support children with autism and their families. With the charity event, sponsored by the Municipality of Tortolì, Minetto, an osteopathic profession, had the mission of supporting the activities of the Piccolo Principe di Tortolì association founded in 2021.
Along the crossing along the east coast, the athlete from Tortolì was escorted by various boats with nutrition and psychology specialists on board. The route was traced by the sailing boat of the Nautical Club. Yet the enterprise, already in itself with a high difficulty coefficient, was not free from pitfalls. Especially when, between the islet of Ogliastra and the port of Arbatax, Minetto came into contact with a jellyfish: his left arm shows the tangible signs of the sting.
«The pain was intense, but after a few moments of shock I set off again. I thought of the children and the people waiting for me in Orrì and that was the engine to start swimming again». But the pitfalls were not over. After Capo Bellavista the sirocco rose and raised the coefficient of difficulty. In the last 8 kilometers Minetto was supported in the water by Tonino Vitiello, an expert swimmer from Arbatax who swam to the shore of Orrì.
"Seeing all those people waiting for me on the beach made my heart skip a beat," Minetto said on the sidelines of the company. Upon his arrival at the lido, where the municipal administrators Rita Cocco, Irene Murru and Vincenzo Nieddu were also present, the athlete was greeted by warm applause and the smiling faces of an army of children.