2023-05-19 12:45:53
Emotional, with tears in her eyes, Ona Carbonell announces his retirement. The Catalan, supported by her family, her friends and the highest representatives of Spanish sport, took the floor this afternoon at the Olympic Committee headquarters to confess her decision. “Today I stop being a synchro girl, but I am very happy at this stage“. Thus ends a career of more than 15 yearswhere it has been hung 92 international medalsand with which it has become an international benchmark.
A few days away from fulfilling 33 years, Ona Carbonell puts an end to her meteoric sports career. The Catalan, although to this day she has spent more time in the water than she did outside, she did not fall in love with the sport submerged in the pool. She went on the tapestry. Rhythmic gymnastics caught her eye, but her love of water made her jump into synchronized swimming at a young age.
At the age of 14 he joined the Sant Cugat High Performance Center. Since then, seasons have been counted by medals and trophies. I participate in three Olympic Games between 2012 and 2020, obtaining two medals in London 2012, duet silver and team bronze. She won 22 medals in the Swimming World Cups between 2007 and 2019 and 12 metals in the Europeans between 2008 and 2021. Record figures for an athlete who has made history.
Reference in and out of the water
In addition to being the woman with the most medals in world championship history synchronized swimming, Ona Carbonell has left her mark on the sport through her fight and normalization of motherhood in the elite The one from Barcelona put her career on pause to dedicate time to Teo already Kaiher two little ones.
“My goal was return to competition after giving birth, not only as a sporting challenge, but above all as a moral duty. Maternity is still one of the handicaps that women have in sport and society”, says the swimmer in her documentary ‘Ona Carbonell: Start Again’, where she recounts the journey and the struggle to return to the pool after maternity .
And not only managed to return once, but of the. Always aware of her children, the pool has been a safe place for her. Now, accompanied by them, her family, her teammates and her coaches, the time has come to say goodbye to the competition.
No one wanted to miss his farewell
“You have been a teammate, captain, reference, friend… And I want to confess that apart from the sports part, your human side, your involvement with social problems is what I admire the most about you. And see that I admire things about you. I wish you the best in the stage that begins today and that I would like it to be related to Spanish sport. Spanish sport cannot allow someone with your human quality to get away from it,” said an emotional José Manuel Franco, president of the Higher Sports Council.
“I’ve had the privilege to wear the medals. I have been fortunate to live with you the most successful stage of your sports career. Although it must be admitted that there have been ups and downs. When you were a mother, what the Federation did was give you means, and you ended up competing in a World Cup. You will do well because you deserve it,” confessed Fernando Carpena, president of the Spanish Swimming Federation.
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