Umberto Bonadè was an Italian rower who was a member of the Vittorino da Feltre club. With Pietro Freschi, Paolo Gennari and the stroke Cesare Rossi, they made up one of the best Italian crews between the wars. The crew of the coxless four, nicknamed “I gazzosini”, perhaps from the fact that the boat was not inaugurated with the classic sparkling wine but with a more modest bottle of soda, was put in the water for the first time in 1927 and was composed of three firemen and a municipal clerk.
Bonadè and his crew won five consecutive national titles from 1927-31. Internationally their brightest moment was at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics where they won bronze. The crew was also the 1929 and 1930 European Champions and won the Gold Cup for winning the Lucerne regatta for three consecutive years.