Route to Paraguay

The Open South American Championship is geting closer each time. Now, only 12 days away, it is time to focus. This is the time when your swimming technique is crucial, when velocity is critical and there is no time for mistakes.

Let's start from the beginning. The nationals took place in Decembre and I was competing for my team (Regatas Lima). On sunday, I was going to compete in the 50 mts breaststroke but to be honest, it was not my forte. I usually swam 50 and 100 mts freestyle. I supposed that winning was not an option and classifying for the South American competition was impossible.

Things changed when I saw who I was competing with. I was the oldest in the final and I told myself it was impossible that the little girls would beat me. Anger raged inside of me and when they gave the start, I swam with all my strength. I saw the other girls beside me and remembered what my mom had told me: Ariana (my competitor) always sprints the last 5 meters. This motivated me even more to increase my speed and do what I thought was impossible.

I got to the wall and when I looked at my time, I had won and even classified. I could not believe it. This showed me how strong the mind is and when you put your will into something, everything can be achieved.

Since there, I have been training twice a day, six times a day non stop. This has lead me to overcome myself and grow as a person and as a swimmer. Training this much forces a person to become organised, determined and efficient. Specially now, as it has become more difficult to train due to school work.

I hope that I lower my times in the competition but it is more important to enjoy this experience and have fun. Really this is just the beginning of something bigger as I have many years to go.