Cordova Malena Santillan He had already gained his lines in the early days of competition at the South American Games in Asunción in 2022. He had two medals around his neck: one silver in the 4x200m freestyle and one bronze in the 800m freestyle. But this Tuesday the 14-year-old Argentine swimmer’s path just got even bigger: He won the 200m backstroke final and realized his dream of leaving the Albiceleste flag on top, dreaming of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

“I can not give more happiness, I can not believe it, I left everything in the race. Words are not enough to explain everything I am feeling at the moment, I am tired but so happy at the same time because I know I gave everything and left the flag at the top. I had thought about second or third place, but when I played and saw that I was first I couldn’t believe it “Santillan told TyC Sports.

The swimmer from the city of San Francisco overtook the Brazilian Alexia Tavares (2m. 13s. 65/100) and the Peruvian Alexia Sotomayor Acuña (2m. 13s. 80/100), second and third respectively. Santillán was one of the candidates along with the Brazilian andrea berinowho finished fourth.

Santillán’s time was 2: 13.32, which meant a national record for the Cadet category, which the 1.80-meter swimmer has already beaten on several consecutive occasions over the past year.

A start by chance

The story of Santillán and the swimming pool, like so many others, began by chance. Actually, when I was 3 in kindergarten I attended. He then continued on medical advice due to the onset of scoliosis, as evidenced in an interview with the newspaper La Voz del Interior.

Born in San Francisco, Córdoba, on March 6, 2008, Malena aims high. “It would be a dream to qualify for the Olympic Games. I will train hard to be able to be in Paris 2024,” she said a few weeks ago at a press conference held at the Sport Automobile Club, where she trained from an early age.

After almost two complicated years from the pandemic, the woman from Cordoba and her coach Aníbal Gaviglio wasted no time and in a short time the work began to bear fruit.

At the end of last year, in the South American Juvenil de Lima, Santillán won three medals, silver in the 800 and bronze in the 400 free and gold in the 4×200 free relay.

In the middle of this 2022 he competed in the Spanish Junior Summer National, in Barcelona, ​​where he made it to the podium twice. She finished third in the 200 backstroke (test in which she is also the holder of the national cadet record, 2m14s34). She and was second in the 400 free with 4m12s84, setting a new Argentine record in the same category. Whose branding has been improved? None other than Delfina Pignatiello, one of the best appearances in national swimming in recent years, now far from high-performance sports.

Last August the Cordovan woman returned to Lima for the Junior World Championships, where she faced rivals a couple of years older than her and also had excellent performances. Because she made it to the final in the four individual tests she ran. She in the freestyle she was fourth in the 1,500, sixth in the 400 and eighth in the 800; and she finished fifth in the 200 back.

At the Odesur in Asunción, he debuted with a medal and a new Argentine record, which allowed him to take another step towards his Olympic dream. And he was also part of the 4×200 freestyle relay – completed by Lucía Gauna, Agostina Hein and Delfina Dini – which won silver.

This Tuesday, with gold hanging around his neck, he zoomed in on his story, which he promises not to stay here …