Mireia Belmonte adds a seventh test to her demanding program in the Kazan World Championships (July 24 to August 9), despite the discomfort in her left shoulder that had caused her to slow down her training since early May. The UCAM swimmer finished in second position in the 5-kilometer open water test of the Spanish Championship, which took place this morning in Lake Banyoles. Now, it only remains for the Technical Commission to ratify the classification.
The swimmer from Badalona, who the day before finished sixth in the 10 kilometers, managed to recover from the effort and compete in a very close test. María Vilas started pulling the group until a little over halfway through the race, when changes in pace began to occur. Erika Villaecija and Mireia Belmonte arrived together and, to decide the champion, the judges had to review in video the arrival to determine who touched first. After a few moments of uncertainty, the swimmer from CN Sabadell won (59:10.85), beating the UCAM swimmer by two hundredths (59:10.87).
The swimmer from Badalona has shown a noticeable improvement in her left shoulder, an injury that is practically considered overcome. Now, the UCAM swimmer, 40 days away from competing in Kazan, must increase the pace and volume of training to get as close as possible to her one hundred percent and thus be able to aspire to a medal, a new challenge in the career of the swimmer from Badalona.
In addition to this open water test, we must add Mireia's usual program in the pool, the minimum times obtained in the past Nationals in Malaga. The swimmer from Badalona will compete in 200 and 400 individual medley, 200 butterfly, and 400, 800, and 1,500 freestyle. These swimming events will start on day 2 and end on August 9.