The Catalan is the swimmer with the most world medals and leaves a great void in the ‘synchro’
MADRID, 19 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish swimmer Ona Carbonell, until now captain of the national synchronized team, has announced this Friday that she is retiring after more than 20 years in the elite and after participating in three Olympic Games, in which she has added a silver and a bronze, in addition to another 34 medals between World and European.
The Barcelonan swimmer has been able to celebrate medals in Games, World and European Games in many artistic disciplines, since the first medal was won at the World Cup in Melbourne (Asutralia) in 2007. A bronze in technical team that opened the successful path of Catalan, who now leaves the professional practice of synchronized at the age of 32 and after taking a break from her career to become a mother.
Carbonell can boast of being the woman with the most medals in the history of the World Swimming Championships and one of the most successful Spanish athletes. Her 23 medals in her World Cups, her last three being in the 2019 South Korea event, place her at the top of synchronized swimming, now artistic, but also at the top of all swimming modalities.
The Barcelonan surpasses the historic Natalia Ischenko in World Cup medals, with 21 medals between 2005 and 2015, and also left behind the ‘mermaid’ who made synchro explode in Spain; Gemma Mengual –achieved 20 World Cup medals–. In addition, she remains in third place in the ranking of absolute world medalists, behind Ryan Lochte (27) and Michael Phelps (33).
Until now captain of the national team, she established herself in the national team just two years after her debut, beginning to collect the 23 World Cup and 12 continental medals that she has won, in addition to the two Olympic medals.
His great moment came in 2012, when he played his first Games, when he won silver in a spectacular duo with Andrea Fuentes, now the United States coach and then leader of the Spanish team, after taking over from Mengual and giving it, shortly after, to Carbonell herself.
In addition, in that London event Carbonell also got a bronze, in the team routine, in what was one of the best moments of his career. In total, he enjoyed three Olympic experiences, since he was also in Rio 2016, where he competed without a medal (and with controversy over the scores) together with the historic Gemma Mengual, and Tokyo 2020, where he began, without knowing it, to say goodbye.
His goodbye leaves a great void in Spanish artistic swimming, since at the moment there is no key relay in the water for Carbonell. Until now, the sweet and fast transitions between Mengual, Fuentes and Carbonell seem to have no clear continuity, although the team, with his help, was giving way to a new generation that, without the pressure of having to win, hopes to return soon to the medals.
Mother of two children, Ona Carbonell is an example of effort and self-improvement, the banner of an exceptional generation that marveled at the most important swimming pools on the entire planet. The Catalan, who in 2020 announced her temporary retirement to dedicate herself to her family, also demonstrated her competitiveness and talent in the kitchens of MasterChef Celebrity, a RTVE program that she won in 2018.