The race took place during the first day of the 2021 Italian Winter Short Course Championships.
Fondly known as “La Divina”, the 33-year-old champion was given a standing ovation when she won the race.
Giovanni Malagò, the president of Italy’s Olympic Committee CONI, dived into the pool in his clothes to celebrate the occasion.
“[This] must not be viewed as a sad moment, even if I understand that in some ways it is for everyone,” Malagò said of the race.
“Rather it is the recognition of Pellegrini’s greatness.”
Pellegrini’s retirement comes after she triumphed at the Tokyo Olympics, setting a new record by becoming the first female swimmer to qualify for a fifth Olympic final in an individual event.
Si chiude con un oro nei 200 stile libero ai Campionati italiani invernali la straordinaria carriera agonistica di Federica Pellegrini. Dopo la gara, la festa e il tuffo in piscina mano nella mano con il presidente del Coni Giovanni Malagò pic.twitter.com/WzzyJ1ft6w
— Tg3 (@Tg3web) December 1, 2021
The six-time world champion in 200m and 400m freestyle is the only swimmer − male or female − to have won eight medals in a row in the same event (200m freestyle) at the World Championships.
She is also the first female Olympic champion in the history of Italian swimming and the only Italian swimmer to have set world records in more than one event.
A native of Mirano, in Veneto, she holds the women’s 200m freestyle world record, and won a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
At the 2009 World Championships in Rome, Pellegrini became the first woman ever to break the four-minute barrier in the 400m freestyle with a time of 3:59.15.
She is a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
