Wilfred Pirotta is one of those local sportsmen who rarely gets a mention these days, but in his heyday, that is between the mid 1950s and the mid 1960s, was a
household name where Sub-Aqua was concerned. He was the first person to be named as Sportsman of the Year when these contests were inaugurated by journalist Benny Pace through the newspaper Sporting Star, way back in 1960. Pirotta was also a prominent national team member. On one occasion, to represent the country in Brazil, the fish caught during training sessions were sold and the money collected was used to pay the air fares, although obviously, it was not enough. He also recalls the
disappointments of this sport, which saw some of his colleagues, unfortunately, disappear at sea. Among other things, he is still an all-year round swimmer, having taken part in the annual Christmas Flipper Race from Sliema Pitch to the Chalet and back on several occasions in the past. Here he tells his story to Henry Brincat
One of Wilfred Pirotta’s main interests, since he was a child, is swimming. It is interesting to note how his love for the sea started.
“When I was 12 years old, we used to swim at a place called Pirate Island just off the Sliema Pitch. There we used to go beneath the surface to catch sea urchins, even without wearing a mask those days. Later I started producing masks which I sold for half a crown (today’s 12c5) each.
Things improved when the founder of the Malta Sub Aqua Club, Eric Pace Bonello, an agent of underwater equipment, started importing various items, including harpoons. We had wooden ones, locally made, before the arrival of those made of aluminium,” he said.
The Malta Sub Aqua Club was founded in 1955 and Pirotta was a founder member. “Earlier we used to dive unofficially, but after the club’s launching, we started to hold some competitions.
In 1958, we decided to take part in the world championship in Portugal, and that was our first international activity. “We had a team composed of myself, Vincent Micallef DeCesare, Edward Arrigo, Eddie Falzon and John Ripard as well as Tony Ellul Mercer. We were accompanied by Eric Pace Bonello, Wilfred Tabone as masseur and trainer, Joe Mamo.
“It was a wonderful experience and we managed to finish a creditable fifth from among 13 nations. To be among the top six in the world was quite an achievement for us.
“The year after that, we organised the championships in Malta starting off from Mellieha Bay. The event attracted 19 participating countries and again made it to fifth place, meaning we had managed to retain our top place alongside such expert nations in the sport as Brazil, the United States, France and Australia.
“I was very happy because I had managed a tenth overall placing in the individual event and I was also declared first overall with the greatest number of fish caught (six) in one single attempt. To catch two or three fish at a go was quite common those days, but six was a surprise even for me. It is still a record today,” he said.
Pirotta said the Maltese participated in the world championship on other occasions. “We also participated in 1960 in Palermo, Italy, and 1961 in Spain where we obtained fifth and seventh place respectively. In 1962 there was no competition, but in 1963 we took part in the event held in Brazil.
“On one occasion, unfortunately I had to retire since I suffered an ear injury (I took to the water against the doctor’s advice).
“The competitions lasted over two days with two six-hour long swims on each day,” he explained.
The Brazil event was something to look forward to. “We did not have enough funds for the air fares. So we decided that the fish landed from catches during our training sessions would be sold so that we could buy the tickets from the money collected, which shows how poor the Club was.
In the end, we still had to fork out money from our own pockets in order to participate. There were only three members from Malta. We acted as players and officials at the same time in order to reduce expenses. In those days there were no sponsorships,” he pointed out.
Asked what sort of fish they usually caught, he said, “Any and every kind of fish but mostly groupers (ceren), corbs (griebel), stingrays (bonn) and bream (sargi). Today, fish is not abundant as it used to be those days. Moreover, the Club today is more concentrated on education – scuba diving and photography. Harpoon fishing has almost become obsolete,” he added.
Pirotta recalls that he had some bad moments during his career. “Losing a colleague throughout the years or during a competition is very hard to bear. Some were never recovered from the sea, despite long searches.
On one occasion, I remember saving a colleague who fell ill while attempting to catch a big grouper. In those days we had no oxygen and, as a result, we used to go up and down in turns. When I came up with the fish, I noticed that he was going down slowly. I took him from his arms and somehow pulled him back up. After about 30 seconds, he was back to normal, Thank God,” he said with emotion.
Asked about the happiest moments in his career, he quickly referred to a couple of events: the world championship in Malta where he came first among the Maltese and the first overall with the greatest number of fish caught as well as the occasion when he was voted as first ever Sportsman of the Year in 1960.
Today, Wilfred Pirotta is still an active swimmer and diver, who enjoys the sea both during the summer and winter.
Wilfred Pirotta – a profile
Date of birth: 14 December 1936
Status: Single
Education: Sliema Primary School and Stella Maris College, Gzira.
Working career: He started working at the age of 16. His first job was that of wireless operator at Luqa Airport in the Air Traffic section. Later he became an HFRT communicator on air traffic, a job he kept until he retired after 44 years of service.
Sporting career: At school he played netball but he also took part in the popular tug-of-war event and the long jump. At Stella Maris College, he also played football for the class team as full back along with midfielder Frankie Zammit, formerly of Valletta. He also indulged in some fancy diving from the Sliema Pitch springboard, which was very popular those days. Other sports disciplines he took part in, though briefly, were bodybuilding and boxing at Villa Bonnici (where the Forestals premises along the Gzira-Sliema seafront are situated today).
He began under-water sports at the tender age of 12. He was a founder member of the Malta Sub Aqua Club and always formed part of the national which participated in the world championships. He also won the Malta championship on one occasion.
Awards: He was the first to win the official Sportsman of the Year contest in 1960. Last year, he was also inducted in the Malta Olympic Committee’s Hall of Fame.