Swimming-Elisbet Gamez
Havana, June 27 (JIT).- Elisbet Gamez, the best Cuban swimmer in the last two Olympic cycles, will travel next July 13 to Thailand, where she will fulfill the scholarship granted by the Fina at the international center of aquatic sports.
"She finally has the visa, an objective we had pending. Thanks to the help of the international federation and the director of that center it was resolved," Nelson Garcia, national swimming commissioner, told JIT.
He added that the ondina baracoense will have a six-month stay in that facility in the Asian country, preparing in view of her 2023 commitments.
"Another good news is that Elisbet made the A mark for the Pan American Games of Santiago de Chile 2023 and is qualified," he said about a process that began last March.
The required ceiling for the 200m freestyle is 2:04.29 minutes, although the B mark requires a minimum of 2:12.27. The Cuban athlete completed the distance in 2:00.86 this week during the Fina World Championships in Budapest 2022.
With that performance, the "mermaid" from the Miel River in Baracoa ranked 22nd overall and second among Latin American competitors.
Elisbet holds all the national records in the freestyle. In the 200, specifically, she exhibits a 1.58.55 that secured her the silver medal at the Barranquilla 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games.
"My goal in Thailand is to try to improve in every way, in the sport and as a person. To take advantage of the facilities and good conditions of the center, learn new things and study English more," she said via internet from the Budapest airport.
She said she is determined to fight in 2023 "for more than one medal at the Central Caribbean Games in San Salvador and at least for a podium at the Pan American Games in Santiago de Chile".
"I will try to do my best, hopefully I will do well at the international center, have good results and continue to improve myself," she said before the imminent return to Havana with her teammates Andrea Becali, Rodolfo Falcón Jr. and Julio Calero, coach Luisa María Mojarrieta and manager García Fernández.
