By Will Baxley on SwimSwam
Olympic Champion Mireia Belmonte recently sat down with Spanish newspaper Vanguardia to talk about her past, present, and future with the sport of swimming.
Past
Now 35 years old, Belmonte reflected on her decision to move out of home at 13 years old to train. The 8x World Champion said that she had to learn to take care of herself from an early age. She left her parent’s house in the Catalonian town of Badalona for the Sant Cugat Performance Center in Barcelona. While Belmonte doesn’t regret the opportunities that came from this decision, as she is now Spain’s greatest swimmer of the 21st century, she does acknowledge the pain it caused her parents. Some days, she told Vanguardia, her mom would burst into tears upon entering Mireia’s old bedroom and seeing the empty bed.
The sacrifices she made, in her eyes, were worth it. At 17 years old, Belmonte burst on to the international scene with a 2008 European title in the 200 IM. Two years later, she won three Short Course World Titles in the 200 fly and 200 and 400 IMs. Throughout the 2010s decade, Belmonte was an international podium mainstay in a variety of events, most notably notching Olympic medals the 2012 800 free (silver) and gold in the 2016 200 fly (gold) events.
Throughout her career, Belmonte says, she has endured the hardships of scoliosis.
“If I do a lumbar exercise or if I’m on my feet for a while or if I swim a lot of butterfly or breaststroke,” Belmonte remarked, “(the lumbar region of my back) hurts me more.”
Present
Between scoliosis and shoulder injuries, the 35-year-old does not currently compete, but she has stopped short of officially retiring. In fact, she is still training four hours daily.
Now, however, the Spaniard is training on her own back in her hometown. During her prime years, by contrast, she trained with the famed Fred Vergnoux in performance centers.
“Little by little I’ve been catching up,” Belmonte says about her current training. “Ultimately, my shoulders are what matter, and in my case, repairing them is the priority.”
She can’t point to any specific instance that triggered her shoulders to deteriorate, instead citing years of mileage on them.
Future
In the near future, Belmonte is working on a project which gives back to Spain’s swimming community. Dubbed Open Promises Mireia Belmonte, the Olympian is hosting four youth meets in areas across Spain: Madrid, Alicante, Bilbao, and Barcelona. The winner of the 200 IM at each meet gets to attend a camp at the Sant Cugat Performance Center, coached by Belmonte. Alongside other coaches, Belmonte will review underwater camera footage with the 12-16 aged swimmers.
(All quotes in this article are translated from Spanish)
Read the full story on SwimSwam: Mireia Belmonte: “I’m training on my own, four hours a day”
