MADRID, 26 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Catalan swimmer Mireia Belmonte, quadruple Olympic medalist, has finally been selected for the European Championships to be held in Rome from August 11 to 17, as confirmed on Tuesday by the Royal Spanish Swimming Federation (RFEN).
The one from Badalona had not initially entered the list announced by the body a few months ago, but now she has changed her mind and has called her “in order to help the progression of competitions and objectives that will take her to Paris 2024, her fifth Olympic Games, with the ambition to once again achieve Olympic glory,” said Sean Kelly, RFEN National Director of Performance.
Belmonte, who last Sunday won gold in the 200 styles of the Spanish Championship, will swim in the Italian capital this event, plus the 400 styles, the 100 and 200 butterfly, and the 400 free. The Spanish had already warned that in this cycle she was going to abandon the more in-depth disciplines.
Instead, Hugo González de Oliveira, winner of three medals in the last continental event, has dropped out of the initial call-up, after “a consensual decision between the athlete and the National Team Management, derived from the athlete’s expressed need to perform a break after a very demanding competitive period during the last two seasons, with the aim of resuming Olympic preparation in September in optimal conditions”.
In this way, Spain, which barely shone in the last World Cup in Budapest, will come with a total of 22 swimmers. Mireia Belmonte, Jessica Vall, Lidón Muñoz, Ainhoa ??Campabadal, Julia Pujadas, África Zamorano, Carla Hurtado, Ángela Martínez, Paula Otero, Alba Vázquez and Carmen Weiler will form the female representation, and Carles Coll, Sergio de Celis, Diego Mira, Luis Domínguez , Carlos Garach, Nicolás García, Arbidel González, Alberto Lozano, Mario Mollà, Joan Lluís Pons and Juan Francisco Segura, the men’s.
In addition, the RFEN also announced that for the Open Water tests, which will be held from August 18 to 24, those selected will be María de Valdés, Ángela Martínez, Carlos Garach, Guillem Pujol and Alberto Martínez. All, except Martínez who will swim only the 10 kms, will compete in the 10 and 5 kms.
