The stellar moment of Mexican swimming in the midst of an institutional crisis

While the representatives of Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands arrive at the Aspire Dome Aquatic Complex in Doha (Qatar), in search of qualification for the long-awaited and elusive Paris 2024 Olympic Games in artistic swimming, the smile and Mexican tranquility is felt throughout the stage where the World Swimming Championships are held, organized by World Aquatics.

“The fact of reaching the World Cup with Olympic qualification relaxes you a lot,” says Joana Jiménez García to France 24.

“We are classified and we came to Doha to try a routine that we put together two months ago, but we are in a very different phase than those who have not yet qualified for Paris,” says Jiménez, who says that they also go to the appointment to “see what countries are doing differently for the Olympic Games.”

Mexico is the only team from the American continent that arrived in Doha with the two tickets (duets and teams) that artistic swimming grants to the Olympic Games, something that has not happened since Atlanta 96.

The historic Nuria Diosdado, multiple medalist at the continental level, and her current duetist, Joana Jiménez, gave that amount of experience and maturity to the team led by coaches Ofelia Pedrero and Adriana Loftus.

It is a good moment that is not only experienced by artistic swimming, but also by the diving field and with a young man called to be a planetary star. At 19 years old, Osmar Olvera already made history on February 3, at the Hammad aquatic center in Doha, when he became world champion in the 1-meter springboard event. A milestone for an athlete from his country in this competition.

Olvera was designated as the best male athlete of 2023 by Panam Sports, after being a triple Pan American champion at the Santiago de Chile games, by winning the 1-meter springboard and 3-meter springboard events (a test that gave Mexico the place to Paris 2024) and synchronized 3-meter springboard.

But the smiles of the Mexican athletes have been accompanied by complaints of lack of financial support and administrative entanglements involving their federation and the National Commission of Physical Culture and Sports (Conade).

The sanction that has the athletes of the Mexican Federation in a coma

In January 2022, the International Swimming Federation, formerly called FINA and now recognized as World Aquatics, sanctioned Kiril Todorov, who held the position of president of the Mexican Swimming Federation (FMN), for alleged administrative mismanagement, problems of governance and indications of change of statutes to facilitate their re-election and the omission of calls for attention to amend these situations.

Todorov assumed the presidency of the FMN in 2009 and ten years later the Mexican Prosecutor's Office filed a complaint against him for the crime of operations with resources of illicit origin. In 2021, the Swimming Association of the Mexican state of Nuevo León directly involved the International Swimming Federation, requesting its intervention to clarify the facts of which the then president of the FMN was accused. FINA disowned Todorov as president of the Mexican federation in January 2022.

The entire controversy was taken to the last legal instance, before the Court of Arbitration for Sports (TAS), the highest sports authority to resolve conflicts of this type. Finally, Kiril Todorov was sanctioned with 20 years without being able to hold any sporting position anywhere in the world and World Aquatics announced the formation of a provisional administrative body for the Mexican Federation, while new elections were held.

But when everything seemed to take shape, the director of the National Commission of Physical Culture and Sports (Conade), Ana Guevara, who was also a world and Olympic medalist in athletics, announced that all support would be withdrawn from Mexico's aquatic athletes. because the provisional administrative body is considered illegal and not suitable.

In 2023, the magazine Proceso leaked the compilation of some audios of what was a meeting between Ana Guevara, Kiril Todorov, athletes and coaches of Mexican swimming. In these conversations, Guevara and Todorov asked the athletes to demonstrate to the Mexican Olympic Committee, an institution that accepted the provisional body, so that they would not allow the interference of World Aquatics in the FMN.

In August 2023, Conade withdrew recognition of the Mexican Swimming Federation.

“We talked in the pool!” Athletes and a call for help

From selling swimsuits to creating accounts on the erotic content platform OnlyFans, these were the resources that Mexican athletes had to turn to, in order to guarantee their participation in the main international events and to have adequate preparation in a crucial year. , thinking about Paris 2024.

Nuria Diosdado resorted to selling suits, while Diego Balleza, a diver, began to share photos of himself on OnlyFans, because according to him, in the absence of the scholarship awarded to him by Conade, he not only had to pay for his preparation for Paris but also provide for your family.

From the Doha World Cup, Osmar Olvera was forceful when asked by France 24 about the difficulties they have gone through: “We talk in the pool, having these results is how we talk. The rest is not in our hands, so keep training.” However, Olvera also took advantage of a post on Conade's Instagram to denounce that he is still waiting for his scholarship.

The resurrection and the glorious path to Paris 2024

They say that after every storm the sun always comes out and Mexican athletes do know this, especially in the cycle to Paris. After all the controversy generated at a national and international level, due to what the artistic swimmers were experiencing, the Telmex Foundation, led by billionaire Carlos Slim, announced the support of the entire team, including their coaches, to travel to the World Cups. World in Egypt and France in 2023.

The result of this was the historic gold medal in the team modality and, subsequently, the early qualification for the Olympic Games of duos and teams at the Pan American Games in Santiago de Chile, defeating the United States and Canada, which have always been the favorites.

Also, Osmar Olvera managed to qualify among the 12 best in the world in the World Swimming Championships that took place in Fukuoka in 2023. Currently, in the diving discipline, Mexico has 13 places for Paris. In addition, Miguel Lara (racing swimming), Martha Sandoval and Paulo Strehlke (open water) also have their places.

A delegation more than seasoned in and out of the water, which has the most important stage in the swimming pools of Paris to continue speaking.