Water polo? Or what is it here?” That's how this story begins. So it was Laura Esther Ramos When her swimming club (CE Mediterrani) suggested that she join the women's water polo team. Laura, at the time, had no idea that such a discipline existed. Not to mention that she imagined that this decision would change her life. Nor did he imagine that water polo would eventually become the pillars of his existence, on the verge of winning an Olympic gold medal while defending the goal of the Spanish national team. But it is always said that the best love stories are born by chance. And Iso foi “love at first sight.”
My water polo game was love at first sight.
Laura was born in Barcelona, and spent her days between the fields of Peñaparda and Chuvas Corrixays. In both municipalities, I experienced that freedom that every upbringing desires: “When you are young and you live in the city, there is no moment when you sleep or summer and go to the city, you feel happier and more free. You know that your country deixaram você air sozinho in the streets. You can go out to jump. There is no end são lembranças muito boas.
Despite being a “very quiet girl,” this constant anxiety kept Laura from playing sports and not staying home and going out to play with her friends. That’s how water polo entered her life.
Laura Esther, biting the gold medal she won at the Paris Olympics.
Or love at first sight?
“When I started playing water polo I didn't know what this sport was.”“The Olympic champion says. Laura says that her club CE Mediterrani wanted to start a female base for this method, so “we recruit girls who practice swimming so we can try it and see how much we like it.” And so it was, the Catalan athlete was fascinated from day one: “I not only love the sport, but I also love the relationship I have created with the girls I have left behind.”
How two years have passed, and what started as a hobby has turned into something more serious.When I got a bag at the High Performance Center, I started training for over two hours and realized that it was nothing more than a game.Comment or goal. Likewise, another turning point was the first call made by the Spanish Seleção: “When you are young, you always dream of representing your country and you start to think again that there is nothing left to achieve this dream.”
Finally the dream came true and from it our first titles appeared: ten consecutive Spanish champions (from 2010 to 2019), world champions (2013), European champions (2014 and 2020), double Olympic gold medals (2012 and 2020). There was no metal to hang in the showcase: Olympic gold.
Laura Esther during an interview with Marca
Oma count is hanging
Paris 2024 has been presented as a unique opportunity for the Spanish women’s water polo team to win a long-awaited gold medal. After losing two finals, Miki Oka’s students are looking forward to what could be the last Olympic event in a golden era. “We didn't feel that pressure, but obviously our focus was on getting that gold, which is the only thing missing and we would die for it.” Laura Esther says.
We didn't feel pressured, but our focus was on getting our money.
On the other hand, the competition was held with great expectations, as the possibility of the national team reaching the podium was very high, according to experts. “Despite the noise in the middle, we are focused on what we were doing. “After the win over the USA, the veterans in the group showed themselves and said that we cannot relax and that we have not won anything yet,” the goalkeeper admits.
As the shots ticked by and the Netherlands were eliminated in a painful penalty shootout, the Spanish women's water polo team Seleção saw themselves in another Olympic final. For the first time, there was no North American team facing them.“In the hours before the end I didn't feel any pressure. “Let's do a lot of work throughout the summer and we are sure that we can win against the United States or Australia.”
After the final match, with a score of 9 to 11 in favor of the national team, the euphoria was unleashed. We finally arrived home. “There are thousands of thoughts in your head, all written down on the page. I realize that you have reached a point of happiness that you cannot believe it happened. It was something to say, ‘Finally, finally we have it.’ And finally we have achieved it, and now we can say that we are champions in everything,” Laura reveals.
Laura Esther in Marca
When you win, you're so happy that you can't believe it's happening.
For her, the key to the success of this team, capable of conquering all the titles it has and has yet to win, is not another sign of each person's self-awareness: “We all know what role we have to play. We are always very clear about the goal we want.”
Your name or map
With this number of victories, this team has gone beyond the pool and put women's water polo on the map: “Fala-se more and more about our sport. More licenses and people are also becoming more aware of women’s sports other than football. “You have to realize that there are also world champions in other disciplines.”
Despite the advances made in terms of equality, Laura stresses that there is still a lot to be done. This is the unpleasant episode experienced by Paula Leighton, a member of the team, who, during the Olympic Games, received countless insults on social networks attacking her physical condition. “All these types of comments are only heard about women, not men. We played a lot with our bodies. I consider myself lucky to have Paula on my team, she is a great player and person.
Laura Esther
“Offensive physical comments target only women, not men.”
Its safety
Despite not being able to get the gold medal marks, Laura first experienced the temporary nature of the event. She lived while her former club Sabadell signed two new scorers and gave up the accreditation as a Catalan player for the next season: “You don’t end up counting, athletes are like a product. Now we serve and we may not like you. It may sound very strong, but it is reality. We all have valid data.”
But as we say, there is no evil that does not come with good. And for the goalkeeper, after leaving Sabadell, it allowed him to return to his first home, to the club where it all began, or CE Mediterrani: “I am very excited. There is no end, I go back to my origins and jump with my friends and with the people I grew up with. “I am really looking forward to this.”
However, he continues to swim in the pool for more than a year, and Catalonia knows that reform is no longer in sight: “Unfortunately, the sport cannot continue until 65 and we will not enter with a torch and jump into the pool.” Water. For several years she has been working more mentally on the issue, and now we are talking about abstinence with a full normal life. I do not know what her safety fee is. “At this moment I have an idea to know what I want to be.”
Athletes are like the product. Now we serve and maybe we are not in service
Dutch water polo player Birgitte Sleiking in front of goalkeeper Laura Ester Ramos during the women's water polo semi-final between Netherlands and Spain
Forium, despite the death of Laura and many of her companions, the passage of time will not be able to extinguish or draw the legacy of the golden age that marked a before and after in the history of Spanish water polo: “Many of the two players that we now use terms as references and they are very strong. 'The beauty of the sport. '”
For those of you who consider you a reference, and in the future we want to be like Laura Ester, the catalaw only needs one thing, which we like: “The most important thing is that what we do is what we do and what we do. This world is a very beautiful thing.”
