Massimo Ballestrero

Until on a rainy day on Lake Maggiore on 22 June 1924, nobody had heard of rower Massimo Ballestrero, but that all changed when his RC Genovese team won a close coxed fours race. Significantly, the victory gained them qualification for the Paris Olympics but not until the Italian Rowing Federation eventually decided they were suitable for the international challenge. Despite the skepticism, the Italian crew did well to finish fourth behind France, the United States and the victorious Swiss team.

Ballestrero confirmed himself as an excellent rower in 1925 when, with stroke Jean Cipollina and cox Renato Berninzone, he won the Italian coxed pairs title. The victory caused a sensation because they defeated the double medal-winning Olympians Ercole Olgeni and Giovanni Scatturin.

Ballestrero, Cipollina, and Berninzone competed in the 1925 European Championships but were no match for the strong Swiss and Dutch crews. Ballestrero won both the Italian coxed and coxless pairs title in 1926 and won silver at the European Championship at Lucerne behind the Swiss pair of Alois Reinhard and Wilhelm Siegenthaler.