That disaster will remain in the history books: last year, in the last World Cup, Spain was not in any final, where swimmers from Trinidad and Tobago, Singapore, Chile, Bosnia, Egypt or Israel were.. It hasn't happened since 1998. This time it won't happen. This Thursday Hugo González will compete in the final of the 200-meter styles of the Fukuoka World Cup (2:03 p.m., Teledeporte) and he will also do so with options to win a medal. hope returns.

The team is still missing, with no more representatives in the finals, but at least its only star is back. González, the young man who claimed the void of Mireia Belmonte with three medals in the 2021 European Championships, was gray at the Tokyo Olympics and failed in the last World Cup, but not this time. This Wednesday, in the semifinals, he won his batch and was among the applicants with the fourth best time. One of his rivals, the Frenchman Leon Marchand, seems untouchable, especially after breaking Michael Phelps's world record in the 400-meter medley, but the rest are close..

So close that this year he has already beaten some in the NCAA. In March, after the Finals of the US university league, a splendid performance by González in the World Cup was already predicted, but as so many times there was suspense about his presence. Already a graduate in Computer Engineering from the University of Berkeley, he was asking for help to continue training there -alongside Marchand himself, for example- and the negotiations with the Spanish Federation (RFEN) were not easy, as always. On the table, once again, the possibility of his early retirement, at 24 years of age. But finally there was no drama.

“The medals are going to be fought”

With the help of the Team Spain Elite program and a flashy sponsorship -Iberia-, González continued with his preparation in the United States and the RFEN agreed to summon him for this World Cup despite not meeting their criteria. “Exceptionally” was selected and the swimmer responded this Wednesday with his pass to the final of the 200 medley meters

“The work has come out, this is a sport that is marked over time and sometimes you don't see all the work behind it, neither mine nor that of my teammates,” said the Spaniard after the semifinals, when he also dared with a prediction: “The podium? The silver and bronze are going to be fought. It will be a very fast race.”. As usual, González's strategy will consist of staying among the first in the butterfly, taking the lead in the backstroke, his specialty, and then holding out in the breaststroke and crawl.. In addition to Marchand, in these last sets the opponents to follow will be the British Tom Deam and Duncan Scott, current Olympic champion and runner-up in the 200-meter freestyle, and a specialist in styles such as the Japanese Daiya Sato, who competes at home.

González's objective was to be in the final -which also qualifies him directly for the 2024 Paris Games- and it has already been achieved, but now he wants more. A medal of his would be the first Spanish in a World Cup since 2017, when Mireia Belmonte hung three in one go. Hope returns.