In her own way, Ana Marcela wants another Olympic gold – 02/09/2023 – Sport

Comfortable and relaxed, Ana Marcela Cunha speaks well and nonstop. The accent is a mixture of Bahia, where she was born, and Rio de Janeiro, the place she chose to live in recent years. That is about to change. Her Olympic cycle —which, according to her, could be the most special of her life— will end in Italy.

The seven-times best swimmer in the world will live in Rome and train with the Italian Fabrizio Antonelli. He is team leader for Gregorio Paltrinieri, current world champion over 10 km in open water and gold medalist in the 1,500 m freestyle at the Tokyo Olympics.

The change of coach, city and country are some of the changes in his life, but not the only ones. No wonder, in an interview with Sheet, she speaks of “cycles”, of leaving “the comfort zone” behind. Everything has a reason. Hers is to do things her way. The athlete is sure that there is a way to live, at the age of 31, in a lighter, happier way, and still continue to be the same: the greatest athlete in the history of Brazilian women’s swimming.

“One year until the Olympics [de Paris]. I thought: ‘If that’s my goal, I have to leave my comfort zone, I need to look for something different’. It depends, of course, on the coach’s work, but it depends a lot on my work, on how much I believe in it and how much effort I’m going to put into it”, he says.

The Unisanta swimmer suddenly ended the partnership with Fernando Possenti, from the COB (Brazilian Olympic Committee), her coach in winning the water marathon gold medal at the Tokyo Games, in 2021. A decision that took her by surprise managers and teammates.

It’s not hard to see that his desire to train, compete and win is unchanging. But the plan is to do it at a different pace. Possenti, known in swimming for his pressure and demands sometimes seen as exaggerated, was the one who whispered in Ana Marcela’s ear, seconds after she had won the Olympic gold: “Now all that’s left to do is win the 10 km of the World Cup.”

“It has to be light, it has to be tasty. It has to be cool. I’m 31. I know what it takes and I understand it very well. How is it to get there? [aos Jogos]? What is it like to be the best in the world, to win another Olympic gold? We know the process, but, when we get older, we also understand our limit of everything. So I think that’s very much what I’ve been looking for,” she says.

Ana Marcela hates the possibility of returning to what she experienced last year: the pain, stress and suffering that brought her to the operating table. In November 2022, she operated on her shoulder. She underwent intervention on the subscapularis tendon, which was torn, and on the injured supraspinatus.

Before, pain was your everyday companion. Discomfort that was only alleviated with medication.

“The post-surgery was the moment for me to say: ‘Wow, it’s possible to still be at high performance without pain!’ Something you’ve never felt in your life and you can’t control it, just taking medicine to get better. That’s not how I want it.”

If the change of city, country and technician and the surgery were not planned, other cycles, yes. Like his marriage to physical trainer Juliana Melhem, in March of this year. It was something that had been on the calendar for a long time. And it was organized down to the smallest detail.

“I’m really boring about it.”

Even with the desire for everything to be lighter, with less pressure and in her own way, Ana Marcela returned to swimming sooner than expected after the surgery. In May, she was a bronze medalist at the World Cup in Soma Bay, Egypt. It’s not that the result was surprising. The mere presence of the Brazilian left her opponents speechless. The general certainty was that she would not swim in 2023.

“When I arrived, they saw me and asked what I was doing there.”

His bronze in the 5 km in Fukuoka, Japan, in July, represented the only Brazilian podium in the World Aquatics Championship.

She still has some chances of securing a spot at next year’s Olympic Games, something there isn’t much doubt about. If he goes to Paris and wins again, it will be the most special medal of all. It will be the end of the cycle in which the swimmer will feel happy with everything she has done. It is lighter.

“I love competing. I love that adrenaline rush. I love being there, fighting the best in the world. But I don’t need to prove anything to anyone else.”