L'Italo-Americano

www.italoamericano.org 8 THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2021 L'Italo-Americano N o t m a n y k n o w t h a t , s i n c e 1 9 4 6 , R o m e c e l e - b r a t e s t h e new year in an unusual way: a d i v e f r o m P o n t e C a v o u r a t m i d d a y , j u s t when the cannons from the Gianicolo ring the hour. The first to celebrate the n e w y e a r i n a n e m b r a c e with the icy waters of the Tiber was Rick de Sonay, a B e l g i a n m a n o f I t a l i a n descent, who would rigor- ously dive wearing a top hat. He was known as "Mister O K , " b e c a u s e h e h a d t h e habit to make that gesture a f t e r e m e r g i n g f r o m t h e river, to reassure bystanders he was doing just fine. On that 1st of January 1946, de Sonay wanted to celebrate his birthday in a special way and thought that jumping in the freezing waters of a river i n W i n t e r w a s j u s t a b o u t right: there was no other h i d d e n m e a n i n g , h e j u s t wanted to have fun. Likely, he hadn't planned to make o f i t a y e a r l y h a b i t , b u t locals absolutely loved it, so he decided to make it a fix- ture. In a handful of years, de Sonay's jump became a sine qua non staple of the 1st of January in Rome. G o o d o l d R i c k k e p t o n diving until the 1980s when he decided it was time to r e t i r e : h e w a s n o s p r i n g chicken anymore and those cold waters may have been a l l u r i n g b u t t h e r i s k o f pneumonia was too high to continue. But Rome and the Romans weren't ready to give up on their yearly ren- dezvous with the Tiber, so a new Mister OK stepped into de Sonnay's shoes: it was Maurizio Palmulli, a for- mer lifeguard at the famous O s t i a b e a c h r e s o r t "Kursaal," who still contin- ues the tradition today. Palmulli, who is in his 70s, declared on more than one occasion that for him "Jumping in the Tiber on New Year's Day means car- rying on a beautiful tradi- tion, made of passion, his- t o r y , a n d f u n . I a m v e r y p r o u d o f i t . I ' v e g o t f i v e c h i l d r e n , f i v e g r a n d c h i l - dren… and when they see me on TV, they are happy. T h i s m e a n s t h e w o r l d t o me." I n 2 0 1 2 , M i s t e r O K a n n o u n c e d h i s w i s h t o r e t i r e , b u t h e e v e n t u a l l y decided to go on for a few more years; he did, howev- er, already pick his heirs, Marco Fois, who has been diving with him for 14 years now, Walter Schirra, and Simone Carabella. The ulti- mate aim of the courageous gang is to wish a happy new year to the capital and its people and to bring a smile to their faces, especially this year when their tuffo took place after the first, tragic y e a r o f t h e p a n d e m i c . I t must have been even more meaningful to Palmulli, who lost a brother to Covid-19 in 2020. "This dive is for all t h o s e w h o a r e n o l o n g e r with us," he said almost a year ago, when preparing for the 2021 jump. T o u n d e r s t a n d h o w d e e p l y e n t r e n c h e d i n Roman lore and tradition Mister OK's jumps are, we just need to look at where they have made an appear- ance: in 1968, the original Mister OK was featured in Dino Risi's Straziami ma di Baci Saziami (Torture Me, b u t K i l l M e w i t h K i s s e s ) , while Palmulli was featured in Sorrentino's Oscar-win- n i n g L a G r a n d e B e l l e z z a (The Great Beauty), in 2013. It's not only the action to be iconic but also the loca- tion. Mister OK always dives into the Tiber from Ponte Cavour, the bridge connect- i n g P i a z z a d e l P o r t o d i Ripetta to the Lungotevere d e i M e l l i n i , a c r o s s t h e C a m p o M a r z i o a n d P r a t i r i o n i . T h e b r i d g e w a s d e s i g n e d b y a r c h i t e c t Angelo Vescovali, built between 1896 and 1901, and inaugurated on the 25th of May of the same year. Easy t o g u e s s t o w h o m i t w a s d e d i c a t e d a n d w h y : Camillo Benso, Count of C a v o u r , P i e d m o n t e s e statesman considered, along w i t h G i u s e p p e G a r i b a l d i and Giuseppe Mazzini, one of the fathers of the Italian unification. It is a simple, yet elegant bridge, with five masonry arches covered in travertine - as you would expect in Rome, of course - with a length of 110 meters and a width of 20. I n J a n u a r y 2 0 2 2 , P a l m u l l i w i l l j u m p f r o m Ponte Cavour for the 34th time. This year, in 2021, he did not give up on the tradi- tion, even if there was no p u b l i c t o c h e e r h i m u p . Mister OK, who also dived into the Seine in Paris and t h e T h a m e s , i n L o n d o n , m u s t h a v e m i s s e d t h e warmth of his fans: "The a t m o s p h e r e i s b e a u t i f u l every time - he declared to La Repubblica a few years a g o - i t ' s l i k e a p a r t y f o r f a m i l i e s a n d c h i l d r e n . Throughout the years, the event became quite famous a n d t h e r e a r e e v e n t o u r s coming here to see us." Of course, he continued, it's not all as simple as it may seem, and fear is part of the game: "fear is there when I walk onto the bridge. The seconds before I hear the cannon of the Gianicolo, my adrenaline goes crazy. Then, once I've jumped and it's all over, when I hear people clapping, the joy I feel is indescribable." Rome's most unusual New Year's Day ritual: the tuffo from Ponte Cavour LUCA SIGNORINI Maurizio Palmulli jumps into the Tiber (Photo: Giorgio Razzano) LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE

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