Jimmy Flowers Classic

The Jimmy Flower Classic, one of the most exiting competitions that I have had the opportunity to participate on. The competition is named after a great coach and amazing person that Paralympic Swimming had the privileged to have and sadly passed away in 2009. This meet honors his life and also is the opportunity to help his beautiful family.

The meet is celebrated in Colorado Springs at the OTC, which makes it very special since our team gets the support of a lot of the employees and athletes at the training center that volunteer to be timers and organizers of the event. This year was very special for me, I started the meet with the 200m BR my favorite race, and to my surprise at the end of it not only I had a good time for my race and ended first; I also had one of my coworkers standing behind my lane. He is an older man with a very kind expression behind his cowboy style, and I can tell you that swimming was defiantly not his sport. He just went to support me, as he said with his Midwest accent. He not only showed to the Saturday session but also the Sunday’s.

Also, the meet marked the beginning of a camp preparing the swim team for the Para Panamerican games that will be celebrated in Guadalajara, Mexico, in November of this year. I have the honor to be part of this team and during the Jimmy Flower Classic I met all of my teammates that will go to these games.

I must tell you how I did in my swimming during the meet but always is important for me to remember the fun parts outside of the pool since those are the motor to go fast in the water. In general all of my events went well I was first on the 100m and 50m BR as well as the 200m BR the 50m FL and the 50m FR, did not go very well but there are more races coming up and I look forward to them.

The next competition is the Speedo CanAm Para-Swimming Championships, celebrated in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada, from July 15^th to 17^th. I am sure there will be a lot to say about it!

......Colorado

Colorado! Now the, “aguijon de agua dulce” - Spanish name for a fresh water type of fish-, as my grandfather used to call me, is in an inland state but lucky enough in Colorado, where instead of enjoying the waterfront I have the Rocky Mountains every morning while going to swimming practices. The reason for this big and new adventure was due to swimming, since I was selected to be part of the US Resident Team at the Olympic Training Center.  I must be honest, I miss the bay in Miami and the great times I had with family and friends but swimming and the pursuance of the dream keeps me strong. I had faced many challenges, in the sport, culturally and a very important one the weather.

When, I first arrived it was very hard to believe I was part of this place, the more I learned about the Olympic Training Center, the people training, eating and living with me, made it hard to believe I was one of them. One of the biggest challenges at the beginning was the training, my hours change from five hours a week in the water and two hours at physical therapy, to sixteen hours in the water a week plus two hours at the gym at 6,035 ft above sea level, no wonder I missed the sea, right? It took me a few months to adapt my body to the altitude, my times in the pool were slower and I did not feel like I was getting anywhere. My coach, Dave Denniston was very patient and helpful; he gave me confidence to believe it was a question of time. The results eventually proved him right; at the end of the year I was able to swim fastest times in almost all of my events at a race in Toronto, Canada.

This new journey has been a learning experience and has immersed me in the American culture that everyday intrigues me more.  Coming from a very lively town, where houses where painted pastels colors and the trees were green all year round with no transformation between summer and winter. Now in my new place, houses had very brownish colors; trees were brown with no leaves, to me I was arriving in a ghost town, what I did not realized at that moment was that this would change almost every three months and that those transformations would not only affect the trees but also the people and how they interact with nature. I have learned to enjoy each of the seasons, yes even the winter, as well, skiing, visiting the national parks, camping and eating ice cream when we are below 0° have been some of the great experiences I have had. I hope you have fun with some of the stories about my life and swimming. 

Colorado Springs, Olympic Training Center 

Morning view of the mountain from the OTC

Trying to Ski 

A little about me...

I was born in Matanzas, Cuba, a city with many rivers that ended in a beautiful bay that I had the luxury of seeing every morning on my way to school. Swimming was part of the everyday life, the beach was the public space of the neighborhood. All the kids on my block knew how to swim and "El Tennis" - the small beach right across from our houses - was our playground. At the age of seven I started swimming in a team with other kids, and competing as well. This brought my love for the sport to a different level, and not only did I want to swim for the fun of it, but I also wanted to be fast at it!!! However, after a few years of training hard everyday, I decided to try a new activity and rest a little from swimming. This time it was ballet dancing what I pursued, but I only practiced it for three years until a rare illness - AVM of the spine - affected my body and left me in a wheelchair.
This incident made me realize how important was swimming for me. I knew that the water was the only environment where my body would feel normal again. It allowed me to discover that the wheelchair was only an obstacle to do some things but not the ones I love the most.
At the age of 15 a new adventure started, our family started a new life in Miami, Fl, which I consider home today. There I decided to go back and do competitive swimming for Palmetto High School, the experience was great, I swam against able body athletes and proved one more time that the wheels did not defined me.  After high school, college began and swimming had to start playing a secondary roll while school was the priority, although the love for the sport was always there. During my third year of college, it was time to go back and this time with a BIG dream, become part of the US Paralympic Team. Together with my coaches Andrew and Belinda Philips and with Flying Fish Swim Club I had the support that allowed me to compete in trials for the China games in 2008. I did not become part of the Paralympic team that year but it was the beginning the great journey I am living today and I welcome you to join.