Only twice in history, Mexico has won an Olympic medal in swimming; both at the Games held at home in 1968. The first one came on October 23, a gold medal won by Felipe Muñoz in the 200 meters; one day later, María Teresa Ramírez won the bronze in the 800 meters freestyle.
And since then, there has been a struggle to have a standout performance at the highest event. However, a new generation of swimmers has emerged who want to aspire to the top. For example, for Migue de Lara, it is time for Mexico to fight for an Olympic medal at the Olympic Games, so he sees that Paris 2024 could be his great opportunity.
"It's a matter of getting experience, we have the Pan American Games in a few weeks, the championship in Qatar in February, which will serve as practice to arrive in Paris prepared to do well. It's necessary to believe in yourself and I already believe in myself, I am ready to make it to the final in the Olympic Games, and once you're in, anything can happen," said the swimmer from Laguna in an interview with MILENIO-La Afición.
De Lara achieved the qualifying mark for Paris 2024 in the only swimming qualifier held in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, last April. His time was 2.09.60 in the 200-meter breaststroke, eight hundredths below the Olympic minimum required and established by the World Aquatics for the Olympic Games.
From that qualifier to date, the Mexican swimmer has participated in the Central American and Caribbean Games in El Salvador, where he won five gold medals; and in the World Championship in Fukuoka, where he broke the Mexican record in the 50-meter breaststroke, clocking the race in 27.38 seconds.
"I seek to represent Mexico in an exemplary manner at the Olympic Games, I have the same diet, the same physical trainer, the same coach, what may have changed (from the national qualifier to date) is that now I went to the Central American Games and the World Championship; I know I deserve to be there, I am part of that group and I am at the same level as the others, it's part of the mental preparation for the Olympic Games, what we are going to need to compete in a good way," said the triton.
The fight for support
Miguel de Lara stated that the current mentality of swimmers and athletes in general is that they have to do what is necessary to finance and obtain resources to compete at the highest level, just as athletes in the disciplines of the Mexican Swimming Federation have done, following the administrative problems of their president, already dismissed, and the suspension of their scholarships by Conade.
"I have been very fortunate because I have had the support of my club, Nelson Vargas, and now of Primavera, as the main sponsor that I have, who have decided to bet on this dream we have, and I don't have to worry about all the political issues that are happening, which I believe is key. Athletes already live in an impressive stress, pushing our body and mind to the limit, if we can ignore all those problems and leave it to the people in charge, it is the best we can do," he said.
For the Pan American Games in Santiago de Chile, De Lara wants to improve the bronze medal he won in Lima 2019 in the 200-meter breaststroke event, a medal that was also the first for a Mexican swimmer in this competition after 12 years.
Although he knows that his best moment, so far, is having achieved the mark for the Olympic Games, he wants to improve it with the possibility of competing for a medal in Paris 2024.
THE KEY, HIS MARK
Miguel de Lara achieved the Olympic mark for Paris 2024 in the 200-meter breaststroke, the event in which Felipe Muñoz won the gold medal in Mexico 68.
THE NUMBER
2.09.60 minutes was Miguel de Lara's time in the 200-meter breaststroke at the national qualifier to earn his spot at the Olympic Games.