Close to 30, Ana Marcela wants a medal that is missing for a complete career

Swimmer Ana Marcela Cunha says that few things have changed since August 3 of last year, the date on which she put an end to an uncomfortable fate in the Olympics.

The gold medal won at the Tokyo Games took a weight off his back and brought him the recognition he never expected to experience since the beginning of his professional career, at the age of 12.

Now, close to turning 30 (his birthday is on March 23), even the Olympic achievement, added to the gold at the Pan de Lima in 2019 and the 12 podiums in world championships, in addition to the recent title of the best in the world in aquatic marathons, the seventh of her career, still haven’t satisfied the athlete.

Ana Marcela is bothered by the fact that she has never won the 10 km race at the Worlds, considered the most traditional distance of the modality.

“I say that many things have changed, but, at the same time, that nothing has changed in me since Tokyo. There was recognition, yes. I feel a different affection from children and people, but, as an athlete, I also think that I lack something. world champion, Olympic champion, but I don’t have the 10 km title”, she says in an interview with sheet.

In that distance, Ana Marcela won silver in Barcelona, ​​in 2013, and bronze in Kazan and Budapest, in 2015 and 2017, respectively. The Hungarian capital, by the way, was chosen by FINA (International Swimming Federation) in February to host the next edition of the competition, between June 18 and July 3.

“This pepper [pela conquista inédita] Fernando [Possenti, treinador] uses and teases me every day. He’s a guy who knows how to do it without being aggressive or heavy. They are subtle provocations, but very stimulating,” he explains.

“And there’s one thing: I also compare myself a lot, it’s inevitable. Despite being older, I charge myself when I do a series below what I’ve done at some point, even much younger”, she completes.

Age, so far, she sees only as a number. There are no signs in training or competitions that show a drop in performance since Tokyo, says the athlete.

Ana Marcela’s career is marked by precocity. She learned to swim at age two and competed for the first time at age six. She has been part of the national team since she was 14. In 2008, at age 16, she was the youngest member of the delegation of 277 athletes – 132 women and 154 men – at the Beijing Games.

“I’m privileged to have achieved almost everything before I was thirty. I look at guys like Nicholas [Santos], who is 42 years old, and I think: much more is possible. I don’t think that my body is older, that my body is slower. I continue to have excellent results, that’s my benchmark,” she explains.

The concern, now, is precisely not to lose the winning streak. Less than 24 hours after the biggest achievement of her career, still on Japanese soil, she confessed to her father, George Cunha, that she would have little time for celebrations because she had scheduled training sessions and important meetings to outline the first actions with an eye on Paris-2024.

For this year, he has in his itinerary a new pass through Sierra Nevada, in the region of Granada, in the south of Spain, for training at altitude. She has yet to compete again in stages of the Spanish and French championships, in addition to the world circuit of aquatic marathons.

Ana Marcela Cunha’s eyes are on Paris-2024, but her career could extend to another Olympic cycle. The continuity of Fernando Possenti for 2028 will be decisive in the decision.

“I’ll be very honest: I look at the cycles. If Fernando continues, I feel very confident in trying more because I trust his work a lot. There is a huge respect, affection and admiration between us”, he says.

Possenti and Ana Marcela met in 2013, when the athlete left Unisanta for Sesi. Then, they reissued the partnership in 2017. There are constant incentives for the swimmer to pursue her career as a coach when she chooses to stop.

“He often lets me set up training sessions and jokes that he would never be my athlete, because I don’t even relieve myself. He promised to give me his watch if I accept”, she says.

Ana Marcela sees the project as a possible challenge, but still a long way off. “I want to read, understand and study a lot if I’m going to do that. I’m a graduate [em educação física] and I really want to work on the edge of the pool, but I’m afraid of not knowing how to explain and pass. There’s a distance to that and lots of wood to burn in the pool.”

In December, she renewed her contract with Unisanta until the Paris Games. On the 10th, the university introduced 12 new swimmers, such as Guilherme Costa, a finalist in the 800 m freestyle in Tokyo, and Guilherme Bassetto, in the mixed 4×100 medley relay.

The team already has names like Victor Colonese, bronze medalist in the Pan de Lima, Nicholas Santos, two-time world champion in short pools, and Leo de Deus, Olympic finalist in the 200 m butterfly.