by InTrieste
The registrations for the sixteenth edition of the Clanfe Olympics, the anticipated annual event in Trieste, are now officially open.
The event will take place on Saturday, July 29th, starting at 2 PM at the Ausonia Beach Club. This year, once again, the Jury will be composed exclusively of women. The jurors will be social media strategist Tania Andreutti, journalist Micol Brusaferro, maker and science communicator Gaya Fior, actress-author Sabrina Gregori, founding editor of the English magazine InTrieste Maria Kochetkova, and singer Dorina, who will serve as the Artistic Judge.
As per tradition, the voting of the Clanfe Olympics Jury can be influenced by corruption, but only through food and beverages.This choice has accompanied the event since its first edition and is justified by the organizers’ desire to use irony to raise awareness among the public about this reprehensible practice.
The corrupter of the Clanfe Olympics must have the courage to admit their illicit act and publicly denounce themselves.
When the extent of corruption becomes excessive, the audience is invited to rebel by going to the table of the corrupt to satisfy their hunger and thirst.
The formula of the event is well established: each participant chooses a dive from those of the Trieste bathing tradition, such as “clanfa,” “bomba,” or “kamikaze,” adding variations in style such as applause in mid-air, battle cries, somersaults, twists, capes, disguises, and more.
The jury evaluates both the technique and the magnitude of the splash produced, the true objective of every skilled “clanfador.” Additionally, a score is also given for the “morbin,” which refers to the ability to entertain the audience with gags and choreography worthy of a real summer carnival. Over the years, divers have appeared on the platform riding tricycles, dressed as skiers, attempting to fly with helium balloons, or even covered in eggs and flour ready to be breaded.
The coveted 5 points awarded for “morbin” have often made the difference.The Clanfe Olympics were born as a game in 2008 but immediately achieved remarkable success, growing exponentially in terms of popularity and participation. In its inaugural edition, it only had about sixty divers, but today the number of participants approaches 200.
As a result, the event offers an entertainment experience of approximately four hours.The Clanfe Olympics welcomes participants from different generations, with a wide age range ranging from 4 to 82 years old.”If we want, this is precisely the true value of the event,” explains Mauro Vascotto, the event’s patron. “It’s about bringing together different generations, often entire families, fathers and sons, but also grandparents and grandchildren diving side by side. The philosophy of the event aims to strengthen family and friendship bonds within the context of competition, but above all in the typical spirit of the Triestine morbidness.
Organizing all this requires great commitment and considerable effort from all the members and volunteers of the SPIZ Social Promotion Association.”Participants are divided into categories based on age: Pice and Pici up to 11 years old, Mulete and Muleti from 12 to 15 years old, Mule and Muli from 16 to 25 years old, Mulone and Muloni from 26 to 40 years old, Babe and Mati from 41 to 50 years old, and finally Vece Marantighe and Vece Bobe for those over 50. Athletes who perform more elaborate and impressive dives end up in the UFO category.
The event is scheduled for Saturday, July 29th at 2 p.m., with the traditional opening ceremony during which the Clanfe flag will be raised instead of the classic rings of the Olympic flag. Following the opening ceremony, the actual dives will take place. Due to the ongoing inaccessibility of the Ausonia facility’s pool, this year’s dives will also be performed from a fixed platform, a detail that, however, is appreciated by true Clanfe purists who have always executed them from rocks, jetties, or the terraces of the Barcola Topolini.
