Mireia Belmonte's mystery before the Olympic year: "You can't have high expectations"

Three days before Christmas, in the stands of the Nova Escollera pool at the Barcelona Natació Club there was expectation: Mireia Belmonte was going to compete in the Spanish Club Cup, dozens of boys and girls from the entity were waiting. The best Spanish swimmer in history was registered in a couple of events and in the previous days she had trained in the same pool. Everything was ready, everything prepared. But when the protagonists of the first final, the 100 styles, began to warm up, Belmonte was not. Retirement, DNF, drop.

“He wanted to test himself, he really wanted to, but he couldn't compete because his problems with his shoulders relapsed,” Luis Villanueva, technical director of the Spanish Swimming Federation (RFEN), explains to EL MUNDO, who is trying to resolve the doubt that floats in the water. for months: Will Belmonte be in the next Olympic Games in Paris 2024? At the moment “you can't have high expectations.”

«Mireia has already done much more than what could be asked of her. At the Tokyo Olympic Games he had an excellent performance with that fourth place in the 400 medley, but since before, since 2017 or 2018, physical problems are not allowing him to compete as he would like.. Participating in other Games would be a great culmination for her career, but today you can't have high expectations,” says Villanueva, who admits that the four-time Olympic medalist continues to suffer breaks in her training plan due to her injuries and that your calendar has had to be rewritten on several occasions.

New coach, same motivation

The goal is to reach Paris 2024, but first you need to qualify and this involves shining at the Spanish Open that will take place in June. «Follows a different plan from the rest, very individualized. All we coaches can do is adjust her preparation and try to help her achieve that ticket,” says the coach about Belmonte, who at 33 years old has spent entire weeks doing feet, without being able to work his arms.

A sign of character. Because the Tokyo 2020 Games were supposed to be the end of the road, but Belmonte decided to continue. Ambition, desire. Despite the departure of his usual coach, Fred Vergnoux, who was in Belgium and now trains in his native France, Belmonte stayed with the group of young people formed by the Canadian Ben Titley at the High Performance Center (CAR) in Sant Cugat and kept the flame alive. According to what they say, he adapted well to the new coach's methods and even helped the kids with advice.

During the summer of 2022 he was able to compete in the Mare Nostrum trophy, the European Championship in Rome and the World Cup and everything seemed on track.. But the pain in my shoulders returned.. The winter break that was announced as temporary was lengthening and, in the end, he spent 14 months without competing. When he returned he only had one plan and one hope left.. The plan was to qualify for the Paris 2024 Games along with the 4×200 relay at the Rotterdam Meeting, which was not possible. The hope now is to recover physically between now and June and obtain an individual ticket.

His last bullet

«You can't make long-term plans now. “It all depends on your physical condition, your problems with your shoulders,” Villanueva accepts.. In 2024, due to lack of space, Belmonte will not be able to be in the World Cup, which strangely will be in February, and it will be difficult to compete in the European Championship because it coincides with the Spanish Open, which will give passes to the Paris Games.. There everything will be played on one card: either classification or retirement.

If he achieves it, it will be the best news for swimming on the way to an Olympic event that is once again announced gray. As already happened in Tokyo 2020, Hugo González will be the only medal candidate, the rest will at most opt to be in the finals or semifinals. «Our chances of medals are very small. We hope to enter some finals and there, one or two swimmers could fight for the podium. Our goal is to be in Paris with several relays and with young people in individuals who can grow from experience,” Villanueva, technical director of the RFEN, recognizes again in the face of a decisive year for Mireia Belmonte, the biggest star that Spanish swimming has ever had. .