Silvio Ferrini started rowing in 1967 and was third that year at the FISA World Junior Championships. Rowing for Canottieri Livornesi, he always competed in double sculls in which he appeared at two World Championships along with Fabrizio Biondi – sixth at Lucerna in 1974 and eighth a year later at Nottingham. At the 1976 Montréal Olympics, after a disappointing semifinal, they took victory in the “B” final for seventh place, defeating the USA crew. Domestically, he was Italian champion, with Biondi, in both 1973 and 1974.