Biography
It all started
when my father Sergio one day told me “DO YOU WANT TO COME SPEARFISHING WITH ME TODAY ?” I was 6 years old and the thought of seeing my father in action from -his point of view- was way too intriguing. From that time on I devised sticks with forks attached at the end of them and started to catch soles and goat fish. By my 10th birthday my father bought me a Mares 80 cm 1 rubber gun and the rest was history…!
Born in Milan, Italy on November 4, 1960 to Sergio Biscarini, opera singer and Griffi Clotilde, former track & field athlete and obstetrician.
Since a very early age he has a lot of energy and thus the mother decides to enroll him in swimming at the age of 6. Around this time, the father an avid spearfisherman, takes him hunting and from here a fascination with the underwater world.
The swimming successes motivate him to go to the USA in ‘79 to train for the ‘84 Olympics while attending college.
In Jan 1983 a wave crashes him against some cliffs in San Diego, CA and as a result of this accident the Olympic dream vanishes. During his college years he models and this will take him to Hollywood right after graduation to pursue an acting career.
While in Los Angeles in 1985, he meets his wife to be and in 1987 he gets married to Jane in Santa Barbara.
The two move back to San Diego and he works as a commercial real estate agent at John Burnham & Co.A few years later he establishes Hyperfin -a high tech fin manufacturing company- and works as a technical consultant with top swimming universities like Stanford, UC Berkley, Texas A&M, USC. He then starts consulting for other manufacturers with emphasis in China and Mexico.
In 1992 the first child, Marco is born and in 1997 arrives Isabella. In 1996 he takes a company public securing a $46MM IPO. By this time the consulting has taken him to the financial sector (Hedge Funds) where he presents managers to European investors.
The family transfers to Lake Como on Sept 1999. He opens his own HF firm and writes for Bloomberg Italia. A few months later a “higher calling” takes him by surprise and within a year the family is invited back in the States where he and Jane pursue theological studies with Campus Crusade for Christ and join a ministry to “influencers” in Palm Beach, FL. In 2004 the family is back in Rome starting Bible studies and in 2013 the two move to Manfredonia (Puglia) where they return after a 3 year stint to Chattanooga, TN.
ATHLETIC CAREER
Peppo starts his swimming career at the age of 6 and participates at his first age group Nationals at the age of 10.
In May 1976 at the age of 15, he wins the World Championship in finswimming marathon (24 hours) setting a new world record of KM 83,7 and shuttering the previous record of 70.3 KM. He is only 15 years old and the Federation initially did not want him to compete because too young.
July 77 wins the Italian National title of open water swim (11.500 mt -Bacoli, NA) 2:14
May 78 Even though afflicted by tendinitis, he wins again the 24 hrs World Championship in finswimming- KM 77,8
1978 Italian National champion in open water and representative for Italy to the Open water World Championship Capri Napoli (1979)
1978 Member of the Italian National finswimming team at the European finswimming championship. Bronze in the relay
1986-1989 5 National US titles in finswimming (100 and 200 mt and yds)
1989 All American Swimmer with 2 gold’s (100 e 200 mt) and 1 silver (50mt) at the World Corporate Games in San Francisco.
He is responsible for bringing the sport of finswimming and the monofin, until then unknown, to North America and promotes it with the USOC in 1983. He works alongside some of the best US universities such as Stanford, UC Berkley, Texas A&M, USC. He develops his own design of monofins and front snorkels under the label Hyperfin receiving a patent and works with Matt Biondi, Dave Berkoff, Misty Hyman.
Lockheed Martin underwater division develops a human powered submarine, to be sold to the US Navy, and contacts Peppo as technical consultant.
The US Navy does not buy the Lockheed project, but engages Peppo to train its best Seals (CISM team) for their World Games between 1992-1996
Speaker at the World Clinic for swimming coaches -Chicago 1995. "Integration of finswimming techniques to increase high level performances". "CO2 tollerance Training using a front snorkel"
Representative and best US athlete at the freediving World Cup in 1998 (Sardinia-Italy) with National records of constant weight (51 mt), dynamic swim (125 mt) and static breath hold (5 min.39 sec).
"blue water hunter” writes often for Pesca Sub, an Italian specialty magazine for apnea divers.World record 21° century for white sea bass 27.8 kg 1997
Former and current sponsors:Tarzasub, Technisub, Dacor, Mat-Mas, TYR, Topsub, C4.