BarcelonaHe opened the door. Her decision to become a mother while an elite athlete allowed many other athletes to see the way forward. Now, entrepreneur and reference, Gemma Mengual has not moved away from the pool. The former synchronized swimmer attends the ARA to talk about the role of women in sport, the duties to be done and an invisible struggle.
Is it important to claim Women’s Day?
— Honestly, I find that Women’s Day… Every day is the day of the woman, the father, the mother, the children and the human being. It is a way to take advantage of the fact that initiatives are taken that day and the topic is discussed. There are many things that we already know during the rest of the days of the year, but it’s a way to concentrate everything in one day.
Isn’t it good, then, to celebrate it?
— I hope that one day we don’t have to celebrate or talk about different things. It’s like in interviews, we always talk about equality in sport. I hope one day it will be achieved and you won’t have to ask me anymore.
Sometimes it seems that you are valued more for being a woman playing sports than for being an athlete.
— It’s that… Why aren’t men asked about women’s sports? It is almost more interesting to know their opinion, that of the opposite sex.
Like for example, about motherhood?
– Yes! They are never asked, “What do you think of the effort involved?” The man also has his role and knows what the woman experiences directly. If he’s a little empathetic, he understands a little bit of what’s going on. Good to know, too.
Is it necessary to put the surnames? feminine i male in sports?
— Man, according to what I’m sure, yes, but it depends. A boy is a boy, and a girl is a girl. In many things, however, the difference is non-existent. When we are born, women obviously have one genetics and men another, and that’s why there are female and male sexes. And since then, unwittingly, we already treat them as such. It’s something that just happens to us. I have two children, and they are children, and obviously I have treated them as children because they are.
Is it a comparative grievance to differentiate between women’s and men’s sports?
– No. There’s men’s soccer and women’s soccer, and that’s obvious. At the moment it is not mixed! It has its differences and any footballer would tell you that.
Is competition between men the same as between women?
– Of course. When you play a sport and you want to have your place, you go for it. It competes, there! In my team, the starting team was eight. You worked hard, pushed yourself and competed against your partner, which is positive because it raises the level of the team. Both women and men do this.
Yes, but there are fewer spaces for women. For example, in journalistic gatherings there is room for only one woman, or the image of a brand must be only one woman. There is no equal opportunity with men.
— Clearly, this is the same as with companies. There are positions that can be filled by a woman, but all the others belong to men. It still happens.
And what can we do for women to break down these barriers and occupy decision-making positions?
— Continue in the same line. Continue to show that we are here, that we add up, that we work, that we are just as strong. That what we don’t have in some things we have in others. Men have abilities in some things and women will have abilities in others, and there are many abilities that we have in common.
Have you ever felt like you had to be able to do it all? That you had to be a superwoman?
— I am a superwoman. And almost all my friends are superwomen. They can do everything, they work, they have children, they run the house, they travel, they laugh, they go out, they can go to pick up the children and at the same time they are managing something else… I do it and I see that my friends do too.
Your sports career has been a benchmark for many sportsmen and women. do you feel that way
– Yes! I am the owner of my life, of my house… I am my boss. I am able to do many things. Obviously, everyone needs help at some point, but I’m very capable. And women are capable of many things.
Do you think that women’s sport is valued enough or is it still too necessary for you to win things to have a place?
— It is still necessary. But we must be aware that for there to be results there must be some support from the institutions. Means are needed to practice the sport in good conditions, but I cannot complain about the conditions in which I trained.
The rise of women’s sport is becoming visible thanks to football, but there are other sports, such as synchronized swimming, which have also helped this growth.
— And many other sports, too. It took us a long time to get here.
Synchro, in the collective imagination, is one of the few sports that is female. You now train the men’s pair of the discipline. What is it like to open doors for them?
— When I started doing synchro there were already boys, but they didn’t have the door open to the Olympic Games or official competitions. I’ve always loved men’s synchro: it’s powerful, but it has its plastic side. Now that I’m coaching two really good boys, I’m having a great time. It adds a lot to our sport. It’s our story told backwards, but it still goes largely unnoticed.