The Italian Massimo Benetton has died whereas training this sport with some associates
It was speculated to be a enjoyable Tuesday canoeing for Massimo Benetton, 54 years outdated, initially from Venice. He labored for the Papin sporting items firm after having been a mechanic for a decade at a preferred firm that makes racing bicycles. Canoeing had accompanied him all through his life: Benetton -nicknamed “Max the Bomb” amongst fans- was a champion canoeist within the freestyle specialty and a grasp of freestyle. He had a whole lot of expertise.
At 8 within the afternoon he had met with some associates within the city of Gisseclose to San Martino, for descend the river Aurino. To him it was to be little greater than a soothing tour. Throughout the tour, nonetheless, an accident threw him into the icy waters of the river. The currents dragged him whereas his associates raised the alarm and joined their ropes to attempt to get better him. The darkness sophisticated all the pieces. The fireplace brigade and the Brunico water rescue crew arrived on the scene, in addition to the Aiut Alpin Dolomites helicopter with its night time imaginative and prescient gadgets activated. As soon as Benetton’s physique was recovered and dragged to the shore, the emergency physician and the Cruz Blanca well being personnel desperately tried to revive him, however they might not do something: the 54-year-old Venetian was already useless. The Carabinieri are finishing up the investigations to seek out out what occurred.
Benetton was well-known on the nationwide sports activities scene. Freestyle, his specialty, rewards the power to carry out evolutions and acrobatics within the water. On this class he had participated on the planet championships of the specialty in Nottingham (England). Massimo was on this sport from a really younger age and performed in world championships in 1991 and 1993. His report features a bronze medal within the 1997 Italian Championships, and a silver and a gold medal within the 2002 and 2003 European Cup .
Benetton was additionally one of many first to experiment with carbon fiber (as in bicycles) for the development of kayak. “I always remember essentially the most stunning a part of this sport,” he mentioned in an interview, “which is the contact with nature and the possibility to expertise the wildest features of the mountains. It requires coordination, steadiness and self-discipline.”
“I had expertise and I used to be ready”
Arcangelo Pirovano Todeschini, a founding member of the Italian Federation of Vacationer Canoeing, doesn’t perceive the demise of his good friend: “He had undoubtedly gone to coach: it was not harmful, maybe he was drained. He knew very effectively what maneuvers to carry out together with his life jacket, which he was undoubtedly carrying it.” For Todeschini, “Max might have gotten right into a gap”, as it’s referred to as within the jargon when the water surpasses a big rock and creates a present that retains the kayak. “However that should not have been the issue, as a result of he used to play with the holes.”
Benetton leaves a son, Leonardo, his father and his brothers Gianni and Lucia, who will bear in mind him like this: “It was pure enthusiasm, out of the atypical. It doesn’t matter what sport he performed, he needed to attain the highest. He was an amazing father, an attentive companion, an excellent brother”.