The collapse of Spanish swimming in Paris was consummated in the men’s 200-metre backstroke. A race full of meaning for Spain, ever since Santiago Esteva, at just 17 years old, planted the seed at the Mexico Games in 1968. Esteva went on the rebound and finished fifth in the final, which was won by Ronald Matthes. The baton would be passed on to Martín López Zubero, champion in Barcelona, and Ashwin Wildeboer, a notable backstroker from the beginning of the century. This Thursday in the La Défense pool, the heir to the saga suffered the disappointment of his career. At 24 years old, an age at which it will be increasingly difficult for him to reach his peak, Hugo González de Oliveira, the most gifted Spanish swimmer of his generation, wasted the last cartridge he had left in Paris. Her sixth place, after sinking in the last 50 metres, raises a series of questions that go beyond her preparation and point to the sporting strategy of a federation that, since Mireia Belmonte closed down, has not managed to train swimmers with the possibility of competing at the highest level, if they are not trained in the United States or in satellite centres, far from Blume and the CAR in Sant Cugat.
“A good start, a good race in general,” said Hugo, as he came out of the pool, his face shaken, pale with rage and struggling to modulate his speech. “I lacked the drive in the last 50m, which is what prevented me from doing the time we wanted. I am satisfied because I am sixth in the Games, but not for the race because it is not my potential. I swam faster in Doha and Mallorca this year.”
The Spaniard had just recorded the best time of his life at the Palma Open in Mallorca in June, where he clocked 1m 54.51s and placed second in the world rankings. If he had repeated the structure of that event in Paris, he would have won the silver medal, which was won by the Greek Apostolos Christou with 1m 54.82s, just behind the Hungarian Hubert Kos, who won gold with 1m 54.26s.
In Paris, Hugo repeated the same split times as Palma in the 50, 100 and 150 metres: 26.99s, 55.89s and 1m 25.72. He was doing well. He kept the American Keaton Jones at bay in the next lane. But he was in lane eight. Right next to the overflow. On the edge of the pool and without references after a bad classification. “On the side of the pool it is more difficult to get into the race,” said Santiago Esteva, the veteran of 1968. The protagonist in Paris did not cling to that possibility to explain his collapse. “Lane eight was a good lane to swim fast and it simply did not work out,” he said. In the last length nothing worked out. One second more than it took him in Palma to cover the definitive 50 metres and there he lost the podium and, possibly, the last chance of winning an Olympic medal. The Los Angeles Games will produce a new generation of opponents, possibly faster, and the years will weigh like tons.
“I think it was the same splits as in Mallorca,” lamented the Spaniard. “I didn’t quite find my style or my rhythm. I wasn’t comfortable. I gave it my all. I didn’t have more. I haven’t trained all year to get here and swim slower. I’m a little disappointed with the time. It wasn’t a peak in Doha or Mallorca. In 2024 I haven’t done any peaks.”
Hugo González recalled Doha, the half-deserted World Championships of great figures where he achieved first place in the 200m backstroke. A stopover that was supposed to serve as a stepping stone to propel him towards Paris with an adequate preparation and which, however, revealed that it was the most his body could give. This, in top-level swimming, is the confirmation of a serious miscalculation. Perhaps it is not a coincidence that Keaton Jones and Ryan Murphy, his teammates at the University of California, also sank.
You can follow EL PAÍS Sports on Facebook and Xor sign up here to receive the Daily newsletter of the Paris Olympic Games.
