By Ricardo Vázquez - [email protected]
To this you have to add intelligence and knowing how to handle the moments in a certain throw. The fencer Montserrat Viveros, at only 18 years old, has won so many tournaments, so many medals that she already seems like an experienced fencer who has won a thousand battles.
Perhaps the most important conquest was the one she recently achieved at the South American Championship of Senior Fencing, held at the Paraguayan Olympic Committee, defeating María Luisa Doig from Peru in a tight 15-13 match. The first gold in the history of fencing in Paraguay.
- Was it pressure for you to compete in your country, in front of your audience?
- No, it wasn't like that, in fact, I invited my family and friends to come and watch the competition, the opportunity they had to see the best fencers in South America in action, but I was calm, I had a lot of strength, I was confident and only at the beginning of my career did I feel nervousness, anxiety, but from the many experiences I had, I learned to control my reactions.
- How did you start with fencing?
- About 10 years ago, I accompanied my father, Carlos Viveros, and that's how I started, I liked it and kept going, more and more, and after I turned 12, I started competing at a high level. At first, I also played basketball, but then they told me that it was counterproductive, that I could get injured and that would hinder my progression in fencing.
- What is your training system like?
- We don't work a lot in the gym, we do a pre-season training during the year and during the competition season, we only work with the weight of our own bodies, we have a specific plan called the displacement plan, which has a lot of coordination, speed, endurance, and strength exercises, but only using our body weight, without adding anything, strengthening each part of the body, moving forward and backward in the guard position and flexing the knee, basically that's the method.
- What does fencing give you?
- Stability, concentration, and above all patience. It's something that this sport taught me since I was little, that no matter how much you're behind, you can change the scoreboard, paying close attention, being patient, and waiting for the right moment to make the thrust.
- Tokyo 2020 is far away, is the goal Paris 2024?
- Not at all, I'm working hard to try to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. I'm trying to improve my ranking. For South America, there is only one spot and an Italian who naturalized as Brazilian has already qualified, so there's no chance in that regard, but there's still the Olympic qualifier that will be held in April 2020 in Panama, and I'll try to qualify there.