Back in the water: Gregorio Paltrinieri joins Healthy Seas and arena for another mission in Sicily

For Olympic swimming champion Gregorio Paltrinieri, the sea is much more than a place to compete. And at the end of September, he returned to the waters of Sicily for his third experience with Healthy Seas and arena, joining a team of volunteer divers on a mission to remove abandoned fishing gear from the seabed near Syracuse.

The conditions were far from ideal. Rough seas and challenging weather made the work demanding, but Gregorio was once again fully involved, getting into the water, helping the divers recover fishing nets, and unloading the collected material back on shore. It was another example of what happens when athletes, businesses and conservation organisations come together around a shared connection to water.

Three Days Beneath the Surface

Over three days, six volunteer divers from Ghost Diving and the local Capo Murro Diving Center carried out three dives on rocky reefs at depths between 30 and 60 metres.

Together, the team recovered 106.5 kg of marine litter, including numerous longlines, trammel nets, trawling nets, gillnets and ropes. Abandoned fishing gear can continue trapping marine animals long after it has been lost or discarded. On rocky reefs, removing it is particularly delicate work, requiring experienced divers to disentangle nets without causing further damage to the surrounding environmet.

The mission brought together specialist diving expertise, local knowledge and the hands-on participation of Gregorio and the arena team, demonstrating the collective effort behind every successful recovery.

From the Seabed to the Classroom, and Back Again

This was not Gregorio’s first experience with Healthy Seas. In 2024, he joined an underwater clean-up mission near Syracuse, discovering firsthand the challenges of recovering ghost nets. A year later, his involvement took a different direction: education.

At a school in Tolentino, near arena’s Italian headquarters, Gregorio met more than 200 students for a day dedicated to ocean conservation, sport and curiosity. The children had the opportunity to hear about his experiences at sea, the importance of protecting marine ecosystems, and the dedication required to become an Olympic champion.

In September 2026, he returned to the water, ready to contribute again alongside the volunteers.

These three experiences illustrate something important: an athlete’s influence can go well beyond a single campaign or appearance. By participating directly in conservation activities and sharing those experiences, athletes can help introduce environmental issues to audiences who connect with them first through their passion for sport.

Four Years of Partnership, Many Ways to Make a Difference

Now in its fourth calendar year, the collaboration between Healthy Seas and arena continues to demonstrate how a shared commitment to water can translate into different forms of environmental action.

Earlier in 2026, the partnership brought ocean conservation to France, where arena employees joined Paralympic swimming champion Alex Portal and local participants for a clean-up along the Dordogne River in Libourne. Together, 26 participants collected 50 kg of litter, highlighting how protecting the ocean can begin far from the coastline.

From underwater recovery missions to school visits and employee engagement initiatives, the partnership creates opportunities for different communities to take part in conservation.

There is also a connection to circularity. Through Healthy Seas’ collaboration with Aquafil, suitable recovered nylon fishing nets can enter the ECONYL® regeneration process, giving different kind of waste materials a new life. arena incorporates ECONYL® regenerated nylon into selected swimwear products, connecting the protection of aquatic environments with the products designed for people who love the water.

Bringing Ocean Conservation to New Audiences

The impact of a mission does not end when the boats return to shore. Two journalists joined the Sicily operation to witness the recovery work firsthand, bringing the experience to readers through articles in National Geographic Italia and Materia Rinnovabile. Their reporting helps reveal a largely invisible environmental problem: fishing gear abandoned beneath the surface, the damage it can cause, and the expertise required to remove it.

It also shows why meaningful partnerships matter. By combining the operational experience of Healthy Seas and Ghost Diving, arena’s commitment to aquatic environments, and the reach of athletes such as Gregorio Paltrinieri, conservation stories can travel beyond their usual audiences.

After four years of collaboration, this is perhaps one of the most valuable outcomes: not only removing waste from the sea, but creating more opportunities for people to discover why protecting it matters.

Read more about the mission:

National Geographic Italia – Reti fantasma: la missione per liberare il mare della Sicilia dai rifiuti della pesca

Materia Rinnovabile – Reti fantasma in mare, nuova missione di recupero per Healthy Seas e arena