As a noted 10-meter diver, Diego Balleza is used to wearing tiny swimsuits that show off his body. Now, desperate due to the lack of financial resources for the Olympic Games in Paris next year, the Mexican makes the leap to another platform where he also wears few clothes: OnlyFans.
Balleza is one of several Mexican athletes who have been affected by a dispute between World Aquatics and Ana Guevara, the head of Mexico’s national sports commission that, since January, stopped paying aquatics athletes monthly. World Aquatics has suspended the president of the Mexican federation, Kiril Todorov, and appointed a commission to take charge while new elections are held.
Todorov was suspended for non-compliance with the rules of good governance of the governing body by the Mexican Swimming Federation. But Guevara refused to recognize the commission even though the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld the change.
Guevara, a runner who won a silver medal in the 400-meter dash at the 2004 Athens Olympics, cut the allowance for all aquatics athletes. So now they are trying to find ways to support themselves.
Balleza, who placed fourth in the synchronized diving on the 10-meter platform at the Tokyo Olympics, opted to join OnlyFans, a site where content creators post images and videos, some of them explicit.
“It occurred to me to open it because one is always looking for a way to generate income. I support my house and my mother, and I have bills to pay, and you can upload whatever you want there, it’s valid content,” Balleza said in an interview with The Associated Press. “I am happy that the people who are on my page have been very good and respectful, I hope they continue like this.”
Balleza charges a monthly fee of $15 to access its content, but offers quarterly packages for $40.50. As of Monday, he had uploaded 136 images, 26 videos, and had over 14,000 fan interactions.
With the money he gets from that website, the 28-year-old diver seeks to replace the little more than 30,000 pesos (about $1,708 dollars) he received as a government scholarship.
“The money I now receive (from OnlyFans) is very volatile, but it has served me well so far,” he said.
Balleza said that in addition to OnlyFans, the government of the state of Nuevo León, where he lives and trains, supported him and has also received money from the private sector, although he did not elaborate on the amounts he received.
But Balleza is not alone in his fight for economic resources. His partner on the Tokyo 10m platform, Kevin Berlin, chose another route to continue his preparation for Paris.
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Berlin, with the help of his relatives, created a coffee brand called “Olimpiada Café” or Olympic Coffee. “At first we thought we would only sell it to family and friends, but then it started to go viral and it reached more people,” Berlin told the AP. “You have to see the positive in things. Thanks to all the problems I had, we have created a business that is doing well and may be useful for the future. In sports you don’t know if an injury ends your career quickly. Berlin and Balleza will compete together in July in the world championships in Fukuoka, Japan, seeking to give Mexico spots for the Paris Olympic Games.
To travel to Japan, World Aquatics provided them with plane tickets, although apparently not all the athletes got them because high jumper Jonathan Paredes asked for help on Twitter to get a ticket to Japan and Aeroméxico eventually provided it.
“This situation is a bit tedious because in the end you are not 100% focused on what you have to do. But nothing is impossible, we already have flights and logistics for the world championships. Now we have to train hard and go get those Olympic spots,” Balleza said.
In addition to Balleza and Berlin, the artistic swimming team was forced to sell swimsuits and towels on social networks.
“There are 14 of us in the team, so we need a lot of money to travel, but it all adds up. The swimsuits gave us an opportunity, but our parents continue to support us, there are donations and in the end everything adds up in the fight for us to go to the Olympic Games,” said Jessica Sobrino, a member of the team that came up with the idea of selling those items.
The artistic team recently won a legal battle and a judge ordered Guevara to reinstate the scholarships. But the director of the national commission said that this is not a permanent measure.
The issue has even been discussed by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who said he would try to see how to help competitors.
While that happens, aquatics athletes in Mexico will have to keep looking for ways to earn money, even if that means selling or taking clothes off.
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