the shadows of the Catalan swimming world

2023-06-03 10:29:38

BarcelonaIn 2013, Barcelona hosted the swimming world championships for the second time. A young Jessica Vall (1988) participated, who at the age of 24 jumped into the pool in her first World Cup experience. Ten years later, with five world championships achieved, he hopes to do it for the last time in Fukuoka (Japan). “This World Cup, the one in Japan, will be the last,” he told ARA. At the concentration of the national selection, she will coincide with another Catalan, Emma Carrasco. The Lleida native, only 17 years old (2005), will experience the first world championship of her career. “I face this opportunity with enthusiasm, and even more so if I can share it with my idol,” explains Emma. However, he says he doesn’t want to follow his path. “Whenever someone is close to retiring, they look for a replacement, and it doesn’t have to be like that. I’ll do my way,” says Emma with conviction.

“That’s one of the big problems swimming has here,” says Jessica. His name has been linked to one of the best generations in the history of Catalan and Spanish swimming. On his record, a bronze medal at the world championships in Kazan (2015) and two silver medals at the European Championships in London and Glasgow (2016-2018) head a long list of triumphs and state records in the breaststroke discipline. The most popular name of her generation is that of Mireia Belmonte. “I’ve experienced how some young girls have been quickly labeled ‘like the new Mireia’, and that can’t be, it’s a pressure they’re not ready for,” he says.

Emma knows exactly what she’s talking about. “I’m already compared to big names, but I try not to pay attention to it. If you focus on doing the same as Jessica or Mireia, you put enormous pressure on yourself and you stop enjoying yourself,” he admits. Both agree that it is a mistake that comes from the root, both for the sport itself and for the conception of this sport in the media. “We really like the swimming being talked about in the press, but whenever it does it puts extra pressure on us that we can only manage for 10 days,” they say.

Whenever someone is close to retiring, they look for a replacement, and it shouldn’t be like that”

Emma Carrasco Swimmer invited to the Fukuoka World Championships

Vall and Carrasco are the vivid image of the generational change experienced by Catalan swimming. “The sacrifice is not conceived as it used to be. Yes, there are four or five young swimmers who are selling strong, but there is not a lot of great promise”, Jessica assesses. A dynamic change that he believes should be corrected from the ground up, helping to combine swimming with studies. There are two high performance centers in the State, in Barcelona and Madrid, but they believe it is not enough. “This improvement will have long-term results, but we should see them now, otherwise we will be left behind,” they say. In the same way, they affect the need to conceive of swimming in a different way. “We focus more on the medals than on the results as a group of swimmers. Until now we have focused everything on a single name and that must change,” says Vall.

A sport without exits

The professionalization model of swimming in the State is lagging behind compared to other countries. For Vall, the key is to be inspired by other models to coin one of his own. “There are structures like the one in Italy where there are many high performance centers throughout the country, and where they give job alternatives once you finish your sports career,” he comments. “I’ve been lucky to have grown up training with people who have tried their hardest to do it, and who have served as examples for me. The problem is that we have to do it without help, and that it shouldn’t be like that,” Emma explains.

Swimming needs more support, so luck doesn’t exist”

Jessica Vall Swimmer invited to the world championships in Fukuoka

To improve this situation, Jessica attended the Spanish Senate a few days ago, where she gave a presentation on the situation of women’s sports and grassroots sports. “There is nothing more rewarding that I could be doing at this point in my career,” she says excitedly. One of his main challenges is to end the fact that you have to depend on luck in swimming: “We can’t be where we are because we were in the right place at the right time. Swimming needs more support because the luck doesn’t exist,” says Jessica. “I would love to be remembered for what I have been able to contribute to my sport. When you win you have an opportunity to be a speaker and it is necessary to improve swimming,” he adds.

Emma smiles as Jessica finishes her sentence. “For us, the values ​​transmitted by veteran swimmers like her are very important. I wish I could reach where she has and bring these values ​​to younger swimmers, I would be very proud,” says the 17-year-old swimmer. However, it is clear that she will stay on her path, without wanting to emulate the careers of swimmers like Jessica or Mireia Belmonte. “I hope he does. If he beats my records, he’s on the right track, and someone in the house better do it,” says Jessica, laughing. His records, as he explains, are ephemeral, they will be beaten and they will disappear. The legacy he leaves to young girls like Emma, ​​however, will be eternal.