The captain of the national swimming team raced 19-year-old King and nine-year-old Leah at a specially arranged event in a swimming pool in Torvaianica, but the dolphins had to swim about twice as many lengths as he did.

Magnini met his match dolphin-style as they overtook him to win in the last few yards.

"I never had such tough opponents," laughed the two-time world champion. But he said he "fell a bit in love with dolphin Leah" and hoped to see her again.

Nicknamed Superpippo, Magnini won gold in the 100-metre freestyle at the 2005 world swimming championships in Montreal and at the 2007 event in Melbourne. Go here for video from Sky News.