In a symbolic term on AS Roma Nuoto's official site saying "Scusate Il Ritardo" (excuse us for being late) the water polo club from the capital announced that the club has finally landed their main objective - that of gaining promotion to Italy's elite water polo division - the A1.

A long awaited objective which saw AS Roma Nuoto failing to notch promotion in the last two seasons.  This time, they did not fail in beating President Bologna in the crucial second leg play-off final match 11-9.  

A key player within this A.S. Roma side has been none other than our own Stevie Camilleri, who scored a poker during this decisive encounter and performed brilliantly throughout the season.  Italian dailies "Il Corriere dello Sport" and "La Gazzetta dello Sport" showered praise on the Malta captain labelling the Maltese athlete as "bomber Camilleri".

Stevie Camilleri proved to be a key figure in AS Roma Nuoto's promotion to A1. Photos © Domenic Aquilina 

The "Giallorossi" clocked ninenteen consecutive wins in the process in a season which saw the team grow and mature as a unit and reach their main promotion objective.

The Malta Independent spoke with Stevie himself and this is what he had to say: " I consider this to be one of my proudest sporting achievements. This is actually the club's first historic promotion after the failed attemps over the past two seasons. The key to this success has been the unity and bond created within the team. This allowed us to overcome other limits such as inexperience especially when you consider we are the youngest team in the top two divisions."

In twenty days time, Stevie Camilleri will soon be heading with the Malta team to participate in the 33rd LEN Water Polo championships to be held in Barcelona between the 14th and 28th July 2018.