Spanish swimmer Oona Carbonell, until recently captain of the national synchronized team, announced this Friday that she is retiring after more than 20 years in the elite and three Olympic Games in which she won a silver and gold medal. There is a bronze pair, in addition to the other 34 differences between the World Cup and Europe.
Since winning the first medal at the World Cup in Melbourne (Asutralia) in 2007, Barcelona swimmers have been able to win medals at the Games, World and European Games in several artistic disciplines. Catalan, now 32, left professional practice of synchronizing and took a break from her career to become a mother.
Carbonell can claim to be the woman with the most medals in the history of the World Swimming Championships and one of the most successful Spanish athletes. Her 23 medals at the World Cup, the last three at the 2019 South Korea event, place her at the top of synchronized swimming, which is now artistic, but also at the top of all swimming modalities.
The barcelona surpassed the historic Natalia Isachenko in World Cup medals with 21 medals between 2005 and 2015, and also surpassed the ‘mermaid’ who caused the synchro explosion in Spain; Gemma Mengual won 20 World Cup medals. In addition, he remains third in the all-time world medal winners ranking behind Ryan Lochte (27) and Michael Phelps (33).
By now the captain of the national team, she established herself in the national team just two years after her debut, going on to collect 23 World Cup and 12 continental medals, in addition to two Olympic medals.
Her great moment came in 2012, her first Games, when she won silver in a stellar pair with Andrea Fuentes, now coach of the United States and leader of the then Spanish team, taking over from Mengual and a few months later. After giving it time after time, to Carbonell himself.
In addition, Carbonell also received a bronze in the team routine at that London event, one of the best moments of her career. In total, she enjoyed three Olympic experiences, as she was also at Rio 2016, where she competed without a medal (and with a dispute on the score) alongside the historic Gemma Mengual, and Tokyo 2020, where she debuted , without knowing, to say goodbye.
His goodbye leaves a huge void in Spanish artistic swimming, as there is no significant relay in the water for Carbonell at the moment. So far, the sweet and fast transition between Mengual, Fuentes and Carbonell doesn’t seem to have any clear continuity, although the team, with their help, was giving way to a new generation that, without the pressure of winning, is expected to return soon. Does for the medal.
A mother of two, Oona Carbonell is an example of effort and self-improvement, the banner of an extraordinary generation that marvels at the most important swimming pools on the entire planet. The Catalan, who announced his temporary retirement in 2020 to devote himself to his family, showcased his competitiveness and talent in the RTVE program MasterChef Celebrity’s Kitchen in 2018.
