Elisbet Gámez, the leader of swimming in Cuba, decided to stay away from the pools for a while and prepare for the XXV Central American and Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo 2026.
“I will take a break, I withdraw from competitions. It does not mean that it is my end, I hope to return stronger and with great desire to fight for the 2026 Santo Domingo Games,” she declared to JIT.
At this stage, she said, she will take the opportunity to complete her degree thesis and graduate as a Bachelor’s Degree in Physical Education, and her Coach Luisa María Mojarrieta (“Lulú”) will be her mentor, too.
The 27-year-old swimmer explained that “the changes to the World Aquatics rules to qualify for the Paris Olympic Games 2024 directly affected me; I shall qualify from my personal best and obtain this point A. It is not the same as when I attended the two previous Olympic events for being the first swimmer from Cuba by score in the international federation ranking.”
“However, I had the opportunity to attend another scholarship, this time in France, to try for the required time and I left with good disposition, desire and great confidence. Then I felt it much more by winning four gold medals at the Central American and Caribbean Games in San Salvador 2023 and being the most outstanding,” she explained.
“I thought I would do well, but that did not happen at the XIX Pan American Games, in Santiago de Chile 2023 or at the world championship in Doha, where I did not achieve the goal despite the fact that in a few days I adjusted with the help of my Coach and did better record than in Chile (2:00.83 in the 200 freestyle),” she recalled.
She pointed out that together with Lulú and, after many conversations, even with Fred Vernougx, her Coach in France, “we evaluated my motivations for the plan I had in the scholarship. I mentally managed to try again, since I would have competitions six weeks later in Nice, where I should have been around 1:59 or 1:58.8, and it didn’t work.”
“There my expectations were high and once again we didn’t achieve it. I talked to Fred, but I wasn’t convinced. I thought that, if I didn’t have a good present, I wasn’t going to get good competition in the future, in this case at the Mare Nostrum Circuit next May and in the French national championship,” she said.
“If what I expected was not happening, I did not want to experience feelings of sadness, anguish and hopelessness again, without trusting the process. It made me feel very angry and totally overwhelmed. Conflicts would return,” she considered.
She expressed her disappointment at not being able to meet her last goal, “because when you go through something like that it is very difficult and it is not giving up, we simply need a break to try to come back with all the enthusiasm. There is nothing that affects an athlete more than losing the passion for what he has dedicated more than half of his life to. But I trust in my recovery and my return with even more strength and dedication.”
Translated by Liubis Balart
