They will be the third Games of Liliana Fernndez and Elsa Baquerizo, a well-matched couple, who has been on the professional beach volleyball circuit for 13 years. In the middle, his coach, an Argentine based in Tenerife who whispers strategy and calm.
Lili Fernndez, Sebastin Menegozzo and Elsa Baquerizo.
-
Gymnastics.
Nstor Abad, how to be a father hanging from the rings
-
Hpica
A very diva mare and a rider with fifth sense
By boat soon, it's hard to imagine a better job. Beach, warmth, sea, sun, a volleyball, music … Well, well, everything has its stuff …, responds quickly Liliana Fernndez, Lili (Alicante, 1987), the companion of Elsa Baquerizo, a record loyalty couple in the professional circuit, with 13 years together. The conversation is recurring at dinner parties or when they meet new people. Always the same comment, about the idyllic of his trade, beach volleyball. Both agree that not everything is as it seems at first glance. You spend 90% of the nights away from home. And there are parties with cold, rain and even snow, in Moscow, Lili nuances.
The beach sounds great, but I recognize that I end up abhorring her, affirms Elsa Baquerizo (New York, 1987), before remembering the spots or wounds on the skin caused by the surface of his sport, holiday ground for the vast majority of mortals and severe training for them. Ms now, way of their Third Olympic Games. In the previous two they finished in the top 10, getting also European medals along the way. The metal in Tokyo does not obsess them, even if they are part of the favorite group. If they make a good tournament, the prize may fall.
Classified since September, very soon, in winter they only rested a week before starting the preparation thoroughly. In front of do espaol, an Argentine coach, Sebastian Menegozzo, who was also a professional of beach volleyball and who is in charge of fine-tuning his muscles, his playing strategies and also his thoughts. Many times as a psychologist. I also have the particular way, since the London Games. It suits me, there are plays that you end up dreaming about, Elsa reveals.
Mental force
The two influence the importance of mental resistance in their sport. They compare it with tennis, where a single point can completely change the dynamics of the match, by just one centimeter. Quote Open, the famous biography I used Andre Agassi to shout with rage all the demons that the racket and the ball had caused him in his career.
He has a lot of emotional intelligence. It makes us reason, say the girls of their coach, based in the Canary Islands since 2002. They are easy to manage, I do not have to act as justice of the peace. They get along, each one from his character, responds l from Arona, south of Tenerife. He settled there to the murmur of beach volleyball. A technification center has turned the municipality into the operations base of the best couples in the world. These days of February, Sebastin distributes his gaze between his girls and the rivals they will find in Tokyo, all revolts on the Spanish island. They train against teams from Russia, Poland, Japan …
The hosts have already warned of the extreme atmosphere they will find in the Shiokaze Park, the headquarters of their competition, in the middle of the Japanese mega-city. Humidity above 95%. They fear that marathon people have serious problems, the Spanish coach says worried. To catch the tone, they will go through Mexico and Singapore, looking for scenarios that mimic the harsh conditions of Tokyo in August. Be like playing in a sauna, Sebastin intuits. More stops will be allowed to drink water, but so and everything will be a good adaptation. That's why Elsa and Lili They arrive two weeks earlier in the city, the second with her husband and son, Sal (two years old). She also lives in Tenerife, with the family. You save your companion's trips, from Madrid to the Canary Islands every Monday.
80 kilometers per hour
They are very hardworking, with extraordinary potential. Lili It is more medical and Elsa has a greater capacity for improvisation, which comes in handy in some moments of the matches, explains Sebastin with a slow verb. Occasionally he jumps into the arena to measure his pupils with another former player. Boys against girls. Each time it costs us more to win them, he recognizes. Lili Fernndez, the strongest physically of the couple, reaches 80 kilometers per hour and moves 60 kilos in chest exercises in the gym. His mother is Croatian and Elsa's is an American. They have chemistry, something fundamental, says their boss, coach, travel companion and the spectator who suffers the most.
As in tennis, in beach volleyball coaching, communication between technicians and players is not allowed. It's frustrating. An outdated measure that I imagine changing, Menegozzo laments. Without words, only looks remain. And among the girls, secret gestures that must be done with discretion. Under the festive image of this sport, a face of game spero springs, of mental challenge, with rivals shouting the points to sink the adversary, body blockages that sometimes seek to do damage and spas in the stands. Beach volleyball is not just party, Elsa closes.
According to the criteria of
Know more