With the 20 years of the tango (or of Serrat’s song) recently completed in Parsthis Thursday just on the eve of the opening ceremony, will premiere in its first Games and Carlos Garach which comes from being Junior world champion in 800 and 1,500 meters freestylethe same distances to face as an Olympian, along with the Open water marathon, 10 kilometers. We will have to keep a cool head, he assumes, in conversation with AS.
He Granadanquite a nerve, following their ritual of putting on relaxing songs or ballads, sad musicbefore competing. And be faithful to your mental preparation, once the schoolbag to be seen with the label of great promise of Spanish swimming. At the European Junior Championships (last fall) I ended up crying after swimminghe confesses, freed from those thoughts that he now uses in positive to enjoy the dream of the games.
The first question is obvious: how do you plan to swim the two long distance events in the pool and then the open water events?
A demanding schedule requires demanding training. I am used to swimming in the pool and in open water, at the World Championships in Budapest, Fukuoka and Doha. It is going to be very hard because there are so many days. I am going to Paris on Saturday, I am competing from Monday and when I finish the inline swimming I will not have open water until August 9. It will be very stressful, and then there is the atmosphere in the Olympic Village with people finishing their competitions. But you have to know what you are up against, keep a cool head and keep training until the end. It is hard, but it is worth it because not many people can do it.
What kind of training, different from that of a sprinter or backstroker, for example, is needed to withstand so many endurance tests?
The main thing is to have a much higher aerobic level. I have colleagues whose average training distance is around 5,000 or 6,000 metres. On a normal day, we can do up to 9,000 metres in one session. Doing it with little rest and at a very high speed also gives us consistency.
If I understand correctly, the 1,500 is your favorite distance.
I like all my events, but the 1,500 is the one I have been swimming all my life, the one I feel most affinity with because thanks to it I am going to the Games. By achieving the minimum two years ago (in April 2022, although only those achieved since May 2023 were valid), that encouraged me to continue training and working to achieve this dream.
Do you continue with the negative swimming tactic, with the second half faster?
A typical problem for long distance runners is that if you start off too strong you end up exhausting yourself, so you try to swim as balanced as possible, looking for a pace that is both competitive and attainable. I like to suffer, I do a lot of training with negative series and I push at the end. And this tendency is reflected in the events.
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I like to suffer, I do a lot of negative series training and I push at the end
As the Spanish record holder in the 400 and 1,500 freestyle, the next challenge is to beat Marco Rivera’s record in the 800?
It’s a very difficult time, but with the work we’ve been doing for the Games I can try to get close to it or even beat it. It’s also important to manage the stress level and the physical level in Paris. Although many people only see the results, we are human beings and we can have a bad day.
Is it true that he was enrolled in swimming at the age of five because he was a restless child?
My parents signed me up because I was active, because they wanted to see what sport I fit into and also so I wouldn’t get overwhelmed.
At what age did you move to Malaga to train as a swimmer?
At 16 years old, I had a very good education at home, and then another in Malaga that taught me to take care of myself, to be constant, to mature by not having anyone to do the laundry for me or make me dinner.
How come, instead of down-to-earth or motivational music, you use relaxing music or ballads before competing?
I’m already very nervous by nature, and I get even more nervous in competitions, so it’s a way to calm myself down. One or two hours before the competition I put on music that helps me relax, and when I go out to compete I turn it off so I can concentrate 100%. I started with a playlist that my sister had on Spotify, and I’ve been adding songs. Although depending on the time of year I sometimes listen to Melendi, which is the opposite, or Eminem. It’s not always sad music, but it usually is.
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HIROSHI YAMAMURAEFE
How do you manage the label of great promise in Spanish swimming so that it is a motivation and not unnecessary pressure?
It’s complicated. You’re burdened with a burden that you didn’t ask for, because what you’ve done is your job. On the one hand, the fact that people trust you and that you have a good future motivates you. But it also adds the pressure of people paying close attention to you. And you’re afraid of failure, of people talking about you and not getting the expected results. It’s hard, but in the end I worked on it with my psychologist, I try to keep the good and the constructive.
I was afraid of falling into an anxiety episode, not to mention depression?
It happened to me. Especially in my first year in Malaga. After I did the minimum, everyone started talking. Then the World Championships and the European Championships came along, and I didn’t have very good results. And on top of that, I’m stupid, because I watched the news, social media, what people thought, which made me quite anxious. In the Junior European Championships I ended up crying after swimming, it was awful, I couldn’t, I practically wanted to give up.
At the European Junior Championships I ended up crying after swimming
Have you completely gotten over it?
It still happens to me today, but I don’t see it as something bad or as something that comes from a weak person, but rather that I need to get rid of all that anxiety that everyone has in one way or another, and let off steam. At first I was really scared because I didn’t know what was happening to me and I didn’t feel like talking to anyone, sometimes not even eating. I think I managed to overcome it and now, when I have bad episodes, I talk to my trainer or my psychologist and we work through it so that it doesn’t hold me back.
It also coincided with the university entrance exams. Did you manage to cope with it?
Yes, that was added to everything. You can imagine
But I did it. How is your Computer Engineering career going now?
It’s difficult to combine it when you train six hours a day. I’m still in my first year, I try to get a course every two years. I have in mind, and knock on wood, to continue for eight years, until the Brisbane 2032 Games, and at the same time get a degree, because swimming doesn’t give you enough to live your whole life.
Is it possible that your other vocation was to be a soldier?
Yes, I wanted to join the army after my university entrance exams, but with the results I was getting I preferred to represent Spain in the water. And later on I will do so as a soldier.
I wanted to join the army after university, but I preferred to represent Spain in the water
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