Swimmer Sarah Rizea crowned Miss Italia 2026 during finale at Santa Severa

Coronation at Santa Severa

Eighteen-year-old artistic swimmer Sarah Maria Rizea won the title of Miss Italia 2026 on Monday evening, 21 September. The final took place at the Castello di Santa Severa near Rome and was broadcast live on RaiPlay and San Marino RTV. Rizea competed under the sash of Miss Liguria, outperforming competitors from across Italy to claim the crown. Twenty-one-year-old Michela Meli, competing as Miss Lazio and studying food science, finished in second place. Sara Genova, a twenty-year-old student and volleyball player representing Calabria, took third place on the podium. Television presenter Giulia Salemi hosted the finale, which marked the eightieth edition of the pageant under its current name.

Elite swimming career

Rizea balances pageantry with an elite career in artistic swimming, competing for the Fiamme Oro sports group of the Italian State Police and the senior national team. She trains at the Rari Nantes club in Savona and has accumulated approximately 100 medals across domestic and international competitions. Her record includes an Italian junior title in the women's duo with Flaminia Vernice in 2023, followed by a silver medal in the technical mixed duo at the 2024 European Championships in Belgrade. That same year, she earned bronze at the World Junior Championships in Lima, Peru, and served as a reserve for the European Championships in Paris. In 2026, she secured both the winter and summer Italian junior titles before winning two bronze medals in the technical and acrobatic team events at the European Junior Championships in Munich. After her coronation, Rizea emphasized that her sporting ambitions remain unchanged.

My dream remains the Olympics.

Background and academic studies

Born in Moncalieri on 8 November 2007 to parents of Romanian origin, Rizea grew up in Vado Ligure in the province of Savona. She completed her secondary education at a linguistic high school earlier in 2026 before enrolling in psychology at university. Her athletic routine requires strict training schedules, which pageant organizers cited as providing stage presence, coordination, and mental stamina during the competition. Rizea stated following the event that she intends to continue combining university studies with high-performance sport.

I do not want to stop being an athlete.

Academy structure and pageant history

The 2026 competition introduced an Academy format organized by pageant patron Patrizia Mirigliani, drawing from an initial pool of roughly 8,000 applicants. Finalists spent five days completing five evaluation trials overseen by specialist coaches. The coaching panel included Francesca Ambrosetti for posture and deportment, Fioretta Mari for acting, Anna Vagli for personality assessment, Paralympic swimmer Giulia Ghiretti for sport, and Gianmarco Chieregato for photography. The event traces its roots to 1939, when publicist Dino Villani created a contest called Five Thousand Lire for a Smile, which ran until 1941. The competition resumed under the name Miss Italia in 1946, making the 2026 event the eightieth under the modern title, though one report noted it as the eighty-fourth edition overall.