Peppo Biscarini

Peppo Biscarini is an Italian-American swimmer, freediver, entrepreneur and evangelist. He represented both Italy and the United States in various international competitions and also won many titles. After retiring from his athletic career, he had a long stint as coach and entrepreneur. Later in life he responded to a higher calling and directed his life towards evangelism.[1]

Peppo Biscarini

Freediving World Cup 1998
Personal information
Full name	Peppo Biscarini
Nationality	Italian-American
Born	(1960-11-04) November 4, 1960 Milan, Italy
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	95 kg (209 lb)
Website	biscarini.com
Sport
Sport	Swimming

Early life

Biscarini was born in Milan on November 4, 1960, to Sergio Biscarini, an opera singer, and Griffi Clotilde, an obstetrician. He moved to the United States in 1979 to train for the 1984 Olympics in swimming as well as to study. In 1999, he returned to Italy and opened the first Hedgefund marketing firm.[2]

Personal life

In 1987, he married to Jane in Santa Barbara, California[3] and the couple have two children.

Career

Swimming

Biscarini started his swimming career at the age of 5 and participated at his first age group Nationals at the age of 10.[4] In May 1976, at the age of 15 years, Peppo won the World Championship in finswimming marathon (24 hours), setting a new world record of 83.7 km by breaking the previous world record of 70.3 km.[5] In 1980, he introduced for the first time in the US the monofin and the front-mounted snorkel starting a working relationship with coach Thornton at UC Berkeley[6] and was credited as the person who introduced the sport of finswimming -the monofin and front-mounted snorkels- until then unknown, to North America.[7] Biscarini was also the member of the Italian National Team at the European finswimming championship. In 1987, he was named US national technical director for the sport of finswimming by the Underwater Society of America, member of the USOC and controlling body for finswimming in the United States. He often writes for Pesca Sub, an Italian speciality magazine.[8] In 1989, he founded Hyperfin, a high tech fin manufacturing company,[9][10] and worked as a technical consultant with swimming programs at various division 1 universities. In 1978, he became the Italian National champion in the open water swimming and represented Italy to the FINA World Open Water Swimming Championships Capri-Napoli in 1979. Biscarini is also a speaker at the World Clinic for swimming coaches, Chicago 1995. Integrated techniques of finswimming for the benefit of high-level swimming, CO2 tolerance training and swimming with front snorkels.

Biscarini also served as the technical consultant to Lockheed Martin underwater division to develop a human-powered submarine.[11] From 1992–1996, he trains the US Navy Seals team for the International Military Sports Council (CISM) Military World Games.

Evangelist and life coach

After 15 years of business as an entrepreneur and hedge fund marketer with the 1st Internet firm in this business, he was recruited by Campus Crusade for Christ.[12] Biscarini pursued theological studies while living and ministering to influencers in Palm Beach, Florida from 2000 to 2004. He then returned to Italy and serverd as the National Director of GEM from 2004 to 2011.[13] He also preached in different churches and nonprofit organizations.[14][15][16] and wrote a manual for basic Christianity: "Quale via, verità, vita?".[17] In 2012, he established ViaVeritas Inc as an international tool for evangelism and an instrument for cross-cultural student exchanges.[18][19] He also created a sister city relationship between Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Manfredonia, Italy, with the approval of the respective mayors and the Sister City association in March 2014.[20][21] He has an Italian podcast Peppo Pod discussing everyday occurrences in light of an eternal plan.

Awards

Representative and best US athlete at the Freediving World Cup in 1998 (Sardinia-Italy) with national records of constant weight (51 mt), dynamic swim (125 mt) and static breath hold (5 min.39 sec).[22][23] AIDA and PADI freediving instructor

Year	Title	Result	Distance	Ref
1976	World Championship finswimming		WR 83.7 km	[24][25][26]
1977	National open water Championship, Italy		11.5 km - 2:14.10
1978	World Championship finswimming		77.8 km
1986-1989	National Championship finswimming, USA		100 and 200 mt
1986-1989	National Championship finswimming, USA		50 mt
1989	World corporate games - All-America title		NR 100 and 200 mt
1989	World corporate games - All-America title		50 mt
1998	World Cup Freediving - best US atlete		NR 51 mt C.W.
1998	World Cup Freediving - best US atlete		NR 5:40 static BH

Television

• Modeling career started in San Diego with Artist Management[27] and in Italy with Fashion Model[28]
• Between 1984 and 1989 appears in numerous national TV commercials like Honda, Ford, Coca-Cola, Hilton, Sprint, Anheuser-Busch, Unocal 76, Wheel of Fortune; in the TV soaps Capitol CBS, in the movie Dolphin Whales and Us,[29] and in Italy in the movie Italian Fast Food.[30]

References

1. "Evangelistic work". CRU. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
2. "Biscarini's biography". Biscarini. Retrieved 2020-03-09.
3. "P.Biscarini: gemellaggio Chattanooga-Manfredonia per dare a giovani domani migliore". 4 April 2014. Retrieved 2020-03-09.
4. Wathen, Alec (11 May 2017). "Training With a Monofin by Peppo Biscarini (1995)". American Swimming Coaches Association. Retrieved 2020-03-09.
5. "Achievement news clips collection". Biscarini. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
6. "Credited as the person who introduced monofin". Free Dive. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
7. "Fin swimming record of Biscarini". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
8. "Listed in Pesca Sub". Pesca Sub. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
9. "Patent owner of swim fin with a cantilevered heel". US Patent. Archived from the original on 22 January 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
10. "Shared expert view on use of Neoprene_lined foot pockets". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
11. "Human powered submarine". ISRS. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
12. "Evangelistic work". CRU. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
13. "Return to Italy as an evangelist". Mission Network Online. Archived from the original on 6 September 2013. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
14. "Shared message at Horizon Church". Horizon Church. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
15. "Recorded messages". Bomb-mp3. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
16. "Messages". Barnabas group. Archived from the original on 11 December 2014. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
17. "Manual on basic Christianity". clcsvizzera. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
18. "Platform for transcontinental cultural exchange". Peppo Biscarini. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
19. "Recorded sample message". Puglia Sounds. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
20. "Established Inter city relationship". statoquotidiano. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
21. "A chat with Peppo Biscarini". Nooga. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
22. "On free diving". AIDA. Archived from the original on 6 February 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
23. "US National Record". oocities.org. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
24. "About Corporate Games". Corporate Games. Archived from the original on 22 January 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
25. "The Press-Tribune from Roseville, California on August 28, 1979 · 1". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2020-03-09.
26. "Offline press coverage". Retrieved 2020-03-13.
27. "Modeling career". Artist Management. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
28. "Modeling career". Fashion Model. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
29. "In documentary on deep sea life". Yahoo. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
30. "On Italian Fast food". imdb. Retrieved 24 March 2015.

External links

• Official site for evangelist work
• Official site