Peppo Biscarini
Peppo Biscarini is an Italian and American swimmer, freediver, actor and evangelist. Born in Milan, he came to the United States at age 19 to train for the 1984 Olympics. He headed back to Italy in 1999 to open the 1st Hedgefund marketing firm. He represented both Italy and the United States in various international competitions and also won many titles. After retiring from his athletic career, he had a long stint as coach and entrepreneur. Later in life he responded to a higher calling and directed his life towards evangelism.[1]
Freediving World Cup 1998
Early life
Peppo Biscarini is an Italo-American born in Milan on November 4, 1960, to Sergio Biscarini, an opera singer, and Griffi Clotilde, an obstetrician. He moved to the United States in 1979 to train for the 1984 Olympics in swimming and also to study. In 1987, he was married to Jane in Santa Barbara, California. The couple have two children: Marco was born in 1992 and Isabella in 1997.
Swimming and underwater sports career
- Started his swimming career at the age of 6 and participated at his first age group Nationals at the age of 11.
- In May 1976, when he was just 15 years old, Peppo won the World Championship in finswimming marathon (24 hours), setting a new World Record of 83.7 km and breaking the previous record of 70.3 km[2]
- In July 1977 he won the Italian National title of open water swimming (11,500 mt -Bacoli, NA) 2:14.10
- In May 1978 he won again the World Championship in finswimming 77.8 km.
- 1978 Italian National champion in open water swimming and representative for Italy to the FINA World Open Water Swimming Championships Capri-Napoli (1979)
- In 1978, he was a member of the Italian National team at the European finswimming championship.
- 1980, introduced for the first time in the US the monofin and the front mounted snorkel starting a working relationship with coach Thornton at UC Berkeley[3]
- He is credited as the person who introduced the sport of finswimming -the monofin and front mounted snorkels- until then unknown, to North America.[4]
- 1986-1989, won five national (US) titles in finswimming (100 and 200 mt and yds)
- 1987, named US national technical director for the sport of finswimming by the Underwater Society of America, member of the USOC and controlling body for finswimming in the United States.[5]
- Founder of Hyperfin (1989), a high tech fin manufacturing company,[6] worked as a technical consultant with swimming programs at universities like Stanford, UC Berkeley, Texas A&M, University of Southern California.
- 1989 All-America Swimmer with 2 golds (100 e 200 mt) and 1 silver (50mt) at the World Corporate Games[7] in San Francisco.
- Technical consultant to Lockheed Martin underwater division to develop a human-powered submarine[8]
- 1992-1996, trains the US Navy Seals team for the International Military Sports Council (CISM) Military World Games (gold medalists in '96).
- Representative and best US athlete at the freediving World Cup in 1998 (Sardinia-Italy) with national records of constant weight (51 mt), dynamic swim (125 mt) and static breath hold (5 min.39 sec).[9][10]
- Speaker at the World Clinic for swimming coaches, Chicago 1995. (Integrated techniques of finswimming for the benefit of high level swimming, CO2 tolerance training and swimming with front snorkels.)[11]
- "Blue water hunter" writes often for Pesca Sub, an Italian specialty magazine.[12]
- World spearfishing record 21st century for white sea bass 27.8 kg 1997.[13]
- Former and current sponsors: Tarzasub, Technisub, Dacor, Mat-Mas, TYR, Topsub, C4.
- AIDA and PADI freediving instructor
Television
Evangelist/Life coach
- After 15 years of successful business as an entrepreneur and hedge fund marketer with the 1st and largest Internet firm in this business, he was recruited by Campus Crusade for Christ.[18]
- From 2000 to 2004 pursued theological studies while living and ministering to influencers in Palm Beach, Florida.
- Returned to Italy[19] as the National Director of GEM from 2004 to 2011.[20]
- Preached in different churches and nonprofit organizations.[21][22][23]
- Wrote a manual for basic Christianity: "Quale via, verità, vita?"[24]
- In 2012, he established ViaVeritas Inc[25] as an international tool for evangelism and an instrument for cross-cultural student exchanges.[26][27]
- In March 2014 he created a sister city relationship between Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Manfredonia, Italy, with the approval of the respective mayors and the Sister City association.[28][29]
- Actively involved in student/economical exchanges between Chattanooga and Italy
References
External links
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