News – Articolo
PRO RECCO EXPANDS ITS GLOBAL REACH WITH PRE-SEASON TOUR OF SHANGHAI AND TOKYO
From 8 to 18 September, the Italian champions will visit China and Japan for matches, joint training sessions and clinics.
Recco, 28 August 2026 – From New York and Princeton to Shanghai and Tokyo: the continents may change, but the mission remains the same. Following the success of last year’s tour of the United States, Pro Recco is once again taking its history, values and the excellence of Italian water polo to the world.
From 8 to 18 September, the team will visit China and Japan as part of the Pro Recco World Tour 2026. The trip further underlines the club’s global standing, with Pro Recco invited to Asia to support the development and growth of water polo.
The first leg of the tour will take place in China from 8 to 13 September, thanks to the decisive support of the Shanghai Water Polo Association and the invaluable collaboration of the Shanghai Sea Dragons International Water Polo Club.
On Friday, 11 September at 10:00 a.m., Pro Recco will take part in a joint training session with players from Shanghai at the Oriental Land Sport Complex in Qingpu. Later that day, at 5:30 p.m., the team will lead a clinic for Masters players and coaches at the French School of Shanghai swimming pool.
On Saturday, 12 September at 9:00 a.m., Sandro Sukno’s team will take to the water at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center for a two-part programme. A 90-minute clinic for boys and girls aged between nine and 15 will be followed by an exhibition match against the Shanghai All Star Team. Young water polo players will play an active role throughout the event, accompanying the teams onto the pool deck before being given the opportunity to take penalty shots against Pro Recco’s goalkeepers during a break in the match.
The initiative will place the spotlight firmly on the next generation and reflect one of the main aims of the Pro Recco World Tour: to introduce more young people to water polo and help the sport continue to grow.
The following day, Sunday, 13 September, the Italian champions will fly to Japan. By 6:00 p.m., Pro Recco will already be back in the water at the Chiba International General Swimming Center for a friendly match against the Japanese national team. The programme will continue on Monday, 14 September at 10:00 a.m. with a joint training session alongside Keio University’s water polo players at the university’s Hiyoshi Campus in Yokohama. The team will remain in Japan until 16 September, when it will return to China for the final two days of the tour. Pro Recco is due to arrive back in Liguria on the evening of 18 September. The club’s first competitive match of the season will be away to Roma Vis Nova on 3 October.
The tour of Shanghai and Tokyo marks another major step in Pro Recco’s international journey. Following last summer’s visit to New York and Princeton, the invitation to Asia reflects the growing recognition of the Pro Recco brand beyond Europe.
“Seeing Pro Recco’s colours reach Shanghai and Tokyo is a source of great pride and emotion,” said club president Maurizio Felugo. “It’s the extraordinary story of a small seaside town that has grown to become a global sporting benchmark, not only because of the results achieved in the water. After New York and Princeton, being invited to China and Japan represents another important step in the journey of growth we have undertaken in recent years. It confirms the global standing the club has achieved and rewards the work we have carried out. Taking Pro Recco around the world means sharing our values and proudly representing Italian sport, while placing our experience and expertise at the service of water polo’s development. I would like to thank Cassandra Azevedo for her invaluable support through AzeItalia, now a well-established organisation within the international water polo community. My thanks also go to the Shanghai Water Polo Association and the Shanghai Sea Dragons International Water Polo Club for their crucial collaboration, as well as to all the organisations that believed in this project and helped make it possible”.
Pro Recco will also be supported throughout the World Tour 2026 by Juneyao Airlines, House of Roosevelt and Icona Design Group.