Chile: Tierra de campeones

“You are not allowed to go out except for the weekends, and when you do you must return before eight, otherwise, your expulsion from the team will be considered.” This was one of the things told to the national swimming team by Daniel Garimaldi, the head coach, when they entered the CAR, which in english would stand for high performance center (Centro de alto rendimiento). At that moment, a group of approximately 15 swimmers, all of them under 18 years old, where entering a sort of voluntary prison where their only activity would be swimming. They were to stay there for four months in preparation for the ODESUR, most of them would not able to see their parents since a great percentage of them came from towns far from Santiago, and couldn’t make it back on time to the CAR.

    The basic routine went something like this: wake up at five in the morning, pull on a swimming suit, and jump into the pool for the next two hours. Afterwards, head to the gym for another hour, and once done with the morning workout head to the cafeteria to eat breakfast. At eleven there was “mental training” where they were taught how to focus properly in stressful situations, such as an important competition. Immediately after this, they would return to their rooms and sleep until lunchtime, eat something, and then go back to sleep. At five they woke up again and got into the pool for another two hours. At eight they had dinner and by nine everyone was in bed sleeping. This was repeated every day.

    One of the oldest members of the team is Benjamín Quintanilla. He is 17 years old and comes from Chillan, a small city approximately five hours away from Santiago. He began swimming only three years ago, which is a surprisingly short time when considering his many achievements. He is, literally, the best backstroke swimmer in Chile at the moment and holds various national records. Before swimming, he was involved in many other sports but because of an injury, he ended up in a pool and has never stopped since.

    Perhaps for him the four months with virtually no direct contact with his family were not as hard as they were in the case of other swimmers, he was probably already used to it. He has been living on his own since June 2013, and not in Santiago where he is only a bus ticket away from visiting his family and friends in Chillan. Benjamin left at the age of 16 to live in Brazil, more specifically in a city called Blumeanu, nearby Florianopolis. There he finished school and plans on going to university. Of course in a country like Brazil, where sports are attributed a much greater importance, it is easier to set high goals, such as continuing on his athletic career while at the same time earning a degree. There, swim teams work in a similar way to football teams; swimmers get paid for practicing the sport competitively. Aside from this, he receives a pension from the state to be used for feeding and a scholarship in the local university to study whichever career he chooses.

    The above are just a few examples of the advantages that practicing a sport at a high level in Brazil. In Chile, meanwhile, the benefits are next to none. Normal schools are not flexible enough to allow for the amount of training an athlete needs, so many are forced to either give up on their high aspirations or switch to a special school, where they get a diploma saying they finished school, but at the same time get a very low level of education. More often than not, students graduating these schools are not able to get into good universities. Even if an athlete manages to get into a good college, the workload and schedules are almost impossible to coordinate with training, and there are no monetary scholarships meaning that those with limited resources are forced to choose between continuing their education or chasing their dreams.   

    Marianne Sphur was also part of the ODESUR team, and like Benjamin, she is also one of the oldest and swims backstroke. She was 19 at the time of the games, which is still considerably young knowing that the average age of the competitors was 27. Despite being one of the best female swimmers in Chile, she was not integrated to the team by Daniel Garimaldi until the very last moment, the reason being she was “too old.” Even though, what is worthy of mentioning about her is not her athletic achievements, but rather her ability to cope with both swimming and university.

Mane, as her friends call her, studies psychology in Universidad Católica, one of the most prestigious and demanding universities in Chile. Most would’ve expected her to quit, or at the very least abandon competition and do sports as a hobby, but she didn’t. She is one of the few, perhaps the only one, who has managed to fully cope with all the responsibilities. Of course it hasn’t been easy. She, too, has to get up early in the morning, but after that she doesn’t get to sleep until lunchtime, she goes straight to classes. Her life, just like the lives of those inside the CAR, is filled with sacrifices, and many times these don’t even pay off as they should. Stress can really take a toll on people, and that’s what happened to Mane when the ODESUR finally arrived, her results were not at all what she expected. Even though, she says she is happy to have had the opportunity to participate, after all, in a country like Chile, reaching such an important level and being able to compete against olympic champions seems like an unreachable goal (for many it is).

Garimaldi’s evident favoritism when selecting swimmers for the national team ended up causing him to be removed from the coaching team once the ODESUR where over. After all, he did cause an immense money shortage and a widespread division between those who practice the sport. Add to this that a day before the beginning of the competition, he announced that four of the people who had been integrated to the team would not be participating anymore. Four teenagers who had spent the last four months locked inside the CAR in preparation for this specific competition would not be allowed to be part of it. This sparked up quite a controversy regarding the amount of power was to be given to the head coach. It was unacceptable for anyone to do this and get away with it. Eventually, the tension that arose between the FECHIDA (the chilean federation in charge of aquatic sports, basically, Garimaldi’s bosses) and Garimaldi led to him to lose his position as head coach. His future within the national sphere is uncertain, officially he is supposed to return to Cordoba, his native city, along with Chile’s star swimmer, Kristel Köbrich, to resume training. The rest of the team will probably remain here, with the exception of Benjamin and a few others who return to other countries in order to continue with the pursuit of their dreams. Some rumour that he will be founding a new club with all of his “favorites” in Santiago.
Swimming, much like other high level sports in the country, is far from being developed and organized, which is why people like Garimaldi can get away with an almost dictator-like attitude. There is barely any media coverage and even less funding available. For many, the final objective isn’t worth all the effort, which is why every year a great number of talented swimmer choose to abandon the sport. Perhaps if people got informed, a 17 year old just beginning his journey would not be criticized after losing to a 27 year old man who already has a collection of olympic medals and records. Perhaps, if information was available, people would know that being able to participate in the olympics is a huge achievement for an athlete with as little support as national athletes do. It is illogical and unfair for an entire community to leave their athletes aside and when a time comes for competition expect golden medals. It is this selfishness coming from the community that leads people like Benjamin to leave the country he grew up in. It is, in the end, a vicious circle, and unless serious changes are made, the country will continue to slowly spiral into a society where no one gives support yet everyone expects results.