A squad of swimmers has given a new feat to the sport in Mexico. The artistic swimming team achieved what had never happened before: winning a gold medal at the World Cup in Egypt. The Mexicans Regina Alferez, María Fernanda Arellano, Daniela Estrada, Itzamary González, Glenda Inzunza, Luisa Rodríguez, Jessica Sobrino and Pamela Nuzhet came close to perfection, according to the criteria of the judges, to beat the teams from Italy, France and Australia in the mixed technique test.
The Mexicans jumped into the pool dressed in bright green and one of Queen’s emblematic songs, Don’t stop me now. The underwater coordination, the almost eternal smile and the precision made them highly valued in terms of the difficulty of the routine, the artistic impact and its execution. The eight athletes obtained 270.1584 points, which surpassed the 268.8417 of the Italians and the 253.5312 of the French. The Mexicans were guided by two great references from their country: Nuria Diosdado and Joana Jiménez, who marked a milestone by qualifying for the synchronized swimming finals during the Tokyo Olympics. The Diosdado-Jiménez duo finished in twelfth place in the world, the best mark for Latin American swimmers in that edition.
The issue of financial support has been a loop infinity in Mexican sports. So that the Mexican delegation could pay for the trip and stay in Egypt, the swimmers stopped knocking on the door of the Government, through the National Commission for Physical Culture and Sports (Conade), and the Swimming Federation. This institution lives through years of turbulence after the management of Kiril Todorov, who a week ago was linked to a process for embezzlement. In the face of so much chaos, the swimmers found shelter in the company of the largest Mexican magnate, Carlos Slim, who supported them. The Mexican delegation in the city of Hurghada is made up of 10 swimmers, one swimmer, two coaches and a doctor specialized in rehabilitation. The Mexicans, faced with a peak in expenses, put up for sale a towel commemorative of Mexico on the internet, which still costs 415 pesos, where the proceeds were to support the artistic swimming team. To this was added another campaign to sell swimsuits with a butterfly design to be able to pay for the days of competition.
A month ago, the women’s track cycling team won a gold medal in the world championships, and, as in the case of the Mexican mermaids, they were deprived of financial support from government revenues. Both sporting achievements, of the few that Mexico can count, did not find an echo in the offices of Conade, chaired by former athlete Ana Gabriela Guevara, nor were they celebrated by the institution. The triumphs of the Mexicans, often wrought by their own tenacity and not by a State strategy, give a good sign towards the Olympic Games in Paris, in 2024.
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