Nuria Diosdado and Joana Jiménez during one of their participations in the Tokyo Olympic Games. Al Bello (Getty Images)
The elegance of the swimmers has brought Mexico to the top of Olympus. Joana Jiménez and Nuria Diosdado brought their country gold medals in the Salvadoran pool at the Central American and Caribbean Games. The Mexicans won the medal in the first two days of competition, confirming their great moment, which had its first climax at the last artistic swimming World Cup in Egypt.
This Saturday morning, Joana Jiménez, a member of the armed forces, won the silver medal in the individual technical competition, finishing second (210.950) behind Colombia’s Mónica Arango (223.7517). Hours later, Jiménez returned to the pool with his duo Nuria Diosdado, a benchmark in Mexican swimming. Both achieved a duet technical score of 222.1617 with an electronic mix of various 80’s songs: “Another Brick in the Wall”, “Sweet Dreams”, “Eye of Tiger”, “Life is Life”, “Take on Me . ..” The combination of music complemented their graceful movements, earning them the test with the routine of greater difficulty.
Diosdado and Jiménez were able to increase their level. They finished twelfth at the Tokyo Olympics. They excelled at the World Championships last May, winning the gold medal as a pair. The entire Mexican team won three gold medals and one bronze medal back then, which has never been seen before in the sport. The feat had a background script: They succeeded against all odds. The National Commission for Physical Culture and Sport (Conade) has since last January stripped them of the resources that swimmers are legally entitled to due to a dispute with the Mexican Swimming Federation.
The Mexican swimmers did not want to stand without a competition and therefore dared to take a step. They broke through the wall of taboos and set out to gather resources on their own. Sale of bathing suits, towels, containers… Everything helped. But the real help took place in the offices of one of Mexico’s most powerful businessmen, Carlos Slim, who offered to pay for the entire trip to the Egyptian World Cup. They were asked to bring at least one medal. The result surprised her.
The dispute between Conade and the swimmers ended up in the Mexican courts. A federal judge ruled that the sports institution acted in bad faith and must immediately return its athletic grants. The organization led by Ana Gabriela Guevara was cornered and had to give way. The swimmers, wanting to avoid a clash with authorities, dived in and fished for gold.
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