Universiade 2025: Italy gold in water polo

Italy's men's water polo team at Universiade 2025 is golden. Among the stars of the match that took the Azzurri to the top step of the podium was Mattia Rocchino, a student in the Biomedical Engineering course at the University of Naples Federico II and 'Federiciano Athlete'. With a goal and several assists, he made his contribution in the final of the Rhine-Ruhr World University Water Polo Championships in Duisburg, Germany.

Mattia and his teammates of the Italian national team beat the U.S. team by a score of 16 to 12, in a match that was dominated by the Azzurri from the middle onward. It is the third consecutive gold for men's water polo at the World University Games after Naples 2019 and Chengdu 2023, setting a new record for the competition: no national team had ever hit thethree-peatbefore.

Mattia Rocchino, a player of the first team of C.N.Posillipo, a historic Neapolitan team coached by Coach Pino Porzio, who was the testimonial of the closing ceremony of the third edition of the Federiciano Athlete Program 2024-2025, during the Federiciano Student Day for the 801th anniversary of the Neapolitan Athenaeum.

The Program (https://atletafedericiano.unina.it), established in the 2022-23 academic year, awarded more than 300 students with the title of Federiciano Athlete, a recognition that gives the university's students who are also elite athletes access to a range of supports for their dual careers, so they can continue to cultivate their passion while simultaneously completing their university education.

Chancellor Matteo Lorito, the Ateneo Federiciano Athlete Committee and the Federiciano community congratulate Mattia on his athletic feat and success.