Strait of Messina crossing 2025
12 July 2025: Valerio Nicolai returns to the Strait of Messina and swims across it with a group, 3.9 km from Torre Faro to Calabria in just over an hour, in the crossing organised by ASD TriRock.
An hour in the Strait, in 80 seconds
From the early-morning selfie to the briefing on the beach, from the boat beneath the pylon to the start, the strokes among the currents, the finish and the certificate.
The day, hour by hour
The briefing on the beach
Orange buoys, swim caps, the last instructions on the currents. Valerio swims with the All Round group from Rome, their coach Lorenzo Venuto and Achille Salerni, teamed up with Luca and Fiammetta.
Dawn over the pylon
The support boat leaves the small harbour: the sun above the Torre Faro pylon, the Strait still calm.
We're off
From the tip of Torre Faro, all together, out to sea.
Among the currents
An hour of strokes alongside Luca and Fiammetta, escorted by the boats, with the Calabrian coast getting closer one metre at a time.
Land!
The last metres, feet touching the bottom at Cannitello, arms raised towards those waiting on the shore.
The certificate
ASD TriRock hands out the crossing certificates beneath the Calabrian pylon: the twin of the one at Torre Faro, where the swim had started an hour earlier.
The photos
From Torre Faro to Calabria
The track recorded by the watch: 3.9 km swum in 1 hour, 3 minutes and 23 seconds, over a straight-line distance of 3.5 km between the tip of Torre Faro and the beach at Cannitello. The bend in the middle tells the story of the Strait's current, to be compensated stroke after stroke.
- A · Torre Faro (Sicily), start at 08:47
- B · Cannitello (Calabria), finish at 09:51
