Just hours before the start of what will be the ultimate opportunity to clinch an Olympic spot for the Marathon Swimming event in Tokyo, the tension is high and palpable at the training pool where the athletes finetune their preparation for today’s race (women, 4pm GMT).
Amongst those, Portugal’s Angelica Andre, 26, is her country’s greatest hope for a qualification. After her 6th place (1:59:18.0) at the European Championships back in May this year, she has worked her way to the top. The Portuguese has a bright future and one an entire nation holds its breath for.
“Although this year has been complicated for everyone, I managed to continue training normally,” Andre calmly says. “We have had good conditions all the way through in Portugal, fortunately.”
With only one trip abroad this year, in Doha (QAT) for the FINA Marathon Swim World Series 10km, Andre’s preparation was limited to swimming pool practice most of the time. However, this did not prevent her from breaking through at the Europeans.
I have not been swimming in the ocean but in the pool mainly. I have continued as normal and it has paid off.”
In addition, the training camp in Sierra Nevada (ESP) has proved to be very beneficial for the new talent of the discipline.
Hit by the virus in January, Andre stood up and did not lose her faith.
“I have had to quarantine in January because I have contracted COVID-19. I had to stop training for 10 days but after this I resumed as normal and was able to compete in Doha. I wasn’t too affected and I had no symptoms at all,” she explains.
Ahead of one of her career’s highlights, the Qualifier in Setubal, she says:
The principal objective for me today is to qualify for the Olympics! And more than this, is to aim for the first or second place or fight for one of the three podium spots in Setubal.”
However, she remains realistic: “We have very good athletes taking part in this race. Samantha Arevalo from Ecuador for example and the Spanish and British competitors, Hungary, Peru, there are maybe 10 or 15 girls that are good athletes here. I expect a competitive race, really.”
“I think I am the most familiar athlete to this venue, because this is my 9th time here. It is an advantage for me for sure.”
“If I qualify for the Olympic, I would like to clinch Portugal’s best rank ever. This would be my prior objective. Maybe it’s easy. The 15th or more close to the 10th place would be amazing. The Olympic Marathon is a really tough race with lots of incredibly strong athletes so I expect a fierce competition with everyone fighting for the best place,” she concludes.
After the Games, Andre will try to take part in about four competitions, with the FINA and LEN circuits.