Havana, April 17 (JIT)-- The leader of swimming in Cuba, Elisbet Gámez, decided to stay away from the pools for a while and return to prepare for the Central American and Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo 2026.

"I will take a break, a retirement from the pools competitively. It doesn't mean it's the end for me, I hope to come back stronger and with a lot of desire to fight for the Santo Domingo 2026 Games," Gámez told the digital newspaper JIT.

During this stage, the 27-year-old ondina will take the opportunity to graduate with a degree in Physical Culture.
The student of Luisa María Mojarrieta explained that "the changes in the World Aquatics rules to qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games require her to make the A mark. To the two previous Olympic Games Elisbet Gámez attended because she was the first swimmer from Cuba by the score in the ranking of the international federation".

Gámez has just returned of her own free will from a FINA scholarship in France, because she did not feel well there, and realized that the time she had left to qualify for Paris was not enough to seek the required mark of 1.57.2 minutes.