2024-10-08 22:45:39
The Cali South American Swimming Championship ended with the predictable victory of Brazil, which was represented by a Sub 23 team. The Brazilian strategy of releasing its best swimmers from the maximum competition is justified by the date of the event in October, when it is generally held. It has played between March and April as a prelude or qualifier for more important international tournaments.
The chosen date does not seem the best for anyone, since the swimmers who have just competed in the Paris Olympic Games, or even in the local seasons, are just beginning their macro training cycle, some oriented towards the Budapest World Short Course Championships in next December and others directly towards the Singapore Long Pool World Cup in July 2025.
The difficulty of achieving good marks at this time of the year, after a very long season of competitions, was evident in the fact that in less than 40 percent of the tests the marks of the previous South American were improved and the records of the competition were very few. championship, although there are few who notice that “detail” of a sport of time and brand.
As a paradox we find that the greatest criticism of the date of the event comes from Brazil, which was a comfortable winner, and in charge of one of its most prestigious technicians, Ricardo de Moura. Swimming and sports in Brazil are very fortunate to be able to criticize and see the problems even in victory, when in other countries like Argentina, for example, it is normal for them to rush to turn the page and hide the garbage under the rug. .
Regarding the chosen dates, the South American officials simply seem to have filled out some form, placing the crosses in the two weeks that appeared most empty or distant from the important events, but which in no way appear as related to the preparation of a cyclical sport. What is swimming like?
The continental sports programming cannot be the tailgate of all the tournaments, whether local or international from World Aquatics and the IOC. Today it seems that there are several, I would say too many, leaders and coaches who ignore the issue of preparation or who believe that swimming is similar to football, in terms of its training system and competitions. But it is not, you cannot compete all year round at similar levels, the poor marks achieved will be in charge of detecting both the preparatory and competitive anomaly. Unfortunately, the bulk of the public is oblivious to these particularities and consumes what they are given without realizing it, as often happens with other topics.
Brazil in this case had at least one strategy, which, it is good to say, was criticized internally. However, Brazilians in swimming have a different reality than all other South American countries, and that difference is very simple: powerful sponsors that allow them to have greater economic resources and more federated and active swimmers than among all the others. countries together. This can allow you to take on international commitments with different teams and prepare them accordingly.
Our country cannot have a training cycle schedule similar to that of Brazil. We must think and carefully select our project and convenience when having a different reality. Unattractive national tournaments with declining state resources, as well as private ones, declining clubs and few swimmers. To the above, by the way, it would be good not to add with exasperating frequency a devastating lack of projects and imagination in sports driving.
Former National Director of Sports.