In the course of an extensive interview conducted by Maximum Martin and published today in DIARIO DE AVISOS, Michelle Alonso, a gold medalist at the Tokyo Paralympic Games, spoke about the dilapidated state of Ofra’s pool in which she, like so many other athletes on the island, began to swim.
The world record holder acknowledged that she is “very sorry” that the pool has been inactive for 15 years because it is an area of which she keeps great memories: “I swam there since I was little, that’s my school. It makes me sad that the kids at school and everyone who lives there can’t enjoy the pool like I did. I would like them to fix it and work. “
In the same interview, José Luis Guadalupe, Michelle’s coach, stressed that Ofra’s pool is “the cradle of the best swimmers of the 89, 90 and early 2000s” in Tenerife, hence its importance: “The best came from there , among other things, because it was exploited by a club, which is ideal. Pedro Díaz carried out a very good project there ”.
Guada recalls the Catalan model, in which entities can manage swimming pools, facilitating access for athletes to it: ”They can open them, for example, at 05.00 and after those athletes go to university. This also allows us to attract athletes ”.
The coach, one of the most important in the history of Canarian swimming, insists on the need for public institutions to get involved in this type of facility for the good of athletes and citizens: “You have to make a significant investment , because the maintenance of now is not the one of years ago. That is why so many swimming pools are being privatized. It does not depend so much on a club, but on several institutions, which have resources for that and for that it is invested. If not, impossible ”.
