MADRID, 24 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Spanish swimmer Teresa Perales is travelling to the Paris Paralympic Games “with all the excitement in the world and with all the hope” and also knowing that she must face the event “with ambition” because she wants to “win” more medals to add to the 27 she already has under her belt, while her teammate Marta Fernández is looking forward to “competing with a full crowd” because there was no public at her debut in Tokyo 2020 due to the pandemic.
“I feel very excited, very excited, and really looking forward to getting to Paris and, above all, trying out the pool, because I really want to get to Paris, but you can’t even imagine trying out the pool, to see the temperature of the water, to see the whole facility and, well, to have that first feeling that we all crave, each one of us in our respective disciplines, and I’m really looking forward to it,” Perales told Europa Press TV before heading to the French capital on Saturday.
The Aragonese recalled that this three-year cycle “has been a little more complicated for me” because before she swam in the S% class and now she does it in an S2 because she has “more disability than before”. “This summer, for example, which is already the last part, I have appeared at home one day and a few hours, so it has also been difficult for the family part, but, well, it is what had to be done,” she pointed out.
The winner of 27 medals at the Games is “looking forward to feeling the warmth of the public again, to seeing a facility full of people” after not having fans in Tokyo three years ago due to the pandemic. “We miss them a lot in Tokyo. I really miss my family, my friends, my people being there, applauding, shouting, and the typical thing I always did as soon as I finished competing, softening, and going up to greet them, I miss it a lot,” she said.
Perales also made it clear that “competition must be approached with ambition.” “If not, we wouldn’t be here, I don’t think any of us would. If you ask someone and they say, ‘I’m here to participate,’ I don’t believe it. We all come here to participate, giving our best and even wanting to win. I want to win. Participating is what’s important, no, it’s wanting to win,” he stressed.
In her case, she already knows that she will have “a few rivals” who will make it “very difficult” for her. “There is a Singaporean who is already in another league and we will be battling it out between an Italian, a Russian, a Mexican and myself for the silver and bronze medals,” she confessed.
On the other hand, the Spaniard confessed that “there is a need to remind people more when the Olympic Games end” that the Paralympic Games are next because “it is important to convey to the general public that sport is not over” and that “everything” that has “engaged them during the first part of the summer” is now being completed by disabled athletes.
“We are going to bring many results, many successes for Spain and it is very nice to see us participate because it also generates a very important complicity, because many of us already know our stories, everything that is behind them, and I think that makes it very nice,” said the Zaragoza native.
MARTA FERNÁNDEZ: “I’M STILL A BIT OF A NOVICE”
For her part, another swimmer like Marta Fernández, winner of three medals in Tokyo 2020, where she was a debutant, acknowledged that she is going to Paris 2024 with “great desire”. “Returning to the Games was ultimately the goal of this year and of these last three years, and enjoying them because I competed in Tokyo and they were with Covid. So these are going to be different and I am still a bit of a novice,” she stressed.
The Burgos native is clear that “the return of the public will be noticeable.” “I’m really looking forward to competing with a full crowd because in the end all the veterans told us that it was great and we haven’t been able to experience it yet,” she warned.
“Even though it’s been a difficult year, the preparation has gone well. I’m happy, the work is done and I’m really looking forward to everything going well. I changed category compared to the last Games, I have different events, but I’m as eager and excited as I was when I debuted in Tokyo. We all know our rivals and in the end we have to arrive at a day and time, and the eight who make it to the final can win medals, so we’ll try to fight for it,” added Fernández.
For the three-time Paralympic medallist, “there is still work to be done” in terms of promoting the event and sports for people with disabilities. “A lot of progress has been made. Tokyo was the most watched Paralympic Games in history, but I think there is still a long way to go so that not only the Games are seen, but also our World Championships, European Championships and all the competitions we have throughout the cycle,” she said.