Artistic swimming champion: 'My dream has always been to compete at the highest level'

Mireia Hernández, 21, is a Catalan artistic swimmer and member of the Spanish national team that won seven medals at the 2023 World Aquatics Championship in July in Fukuoka, Japan.

Mireia won a bronze medal for her Mixed Duet Free routine together with Dennis González in Asia with a performance themed on 'Angels and Demons.' But that was not the athlete's only achievement this summer, as she also picked up a gold medal during the European Games in Poland earlier in June. 

Aiming for perfection

Mireia Hernández has been swimming since she was five years old when she started off in the coastal town of Calella, just north of Barcelona. She started competing internationally at a young age and now still does so at the highest level with the senior national team. 

Hernández has also trained at Blume, the Technical Center in Esplugues de Llobregat, and now she's at the High-Performance Center (CAR), where all the national team trains.

Artistic swimmers train 6-8 hours a day, resting only on Saturday afternoons and Sundays. However, Mireia says that the amount of time dedicated to training can vary depending on how far away the next competition is.

"Every hour we train is dedicated to finding perfection. This is a sport that needs a lot of hours and a lot of repetitions to get the best results and the best performance in the three minutes that our routines last."

"This year we have been able to prepare really well for the World Aquatics Championship because we have been competing more than usual in different World Cups. We have been to Canada, Egypt, France, and Oviedo, in Spain," she adds. Mireia mentions that this season of competitions has also helped them get used to the new regulations which seek to make the punctuation method more unbiased.

To prepare for Fukuoka, the Spanish team spent a month in Japan training in the mornings and afternoons. "Those were really long days, but there was a lot of excitement to achieve the final goal," Mireia says. 

Mireia and Dennis did achieve their goal, finishing third just behind China and Mexico, and getting the highest punctuation on artistic impression. The Spanish artistic swimming team also picked up gold medals in Team Technical as well as solos, both women and men. 

In total, the national team, with seven Catalan athletes, won seven medals in Fukuoka.

Catalans in the Spanish team

Catalan athletes have always had a big impact on the victories of the national team. 

Athletes like Gemma Mengual, Ona Carbonell, and Andrea Fuentes, who won Olympic medals, inspired Mireia growing up.

"My dream has always been to compete at the highest level with the national team and I feel I am very lucky to be able to train with Gemma Mengual. She helped us in the mixed duet, but she also helped me with solos when I was younger. I really liked growing up with her and having a close relationship. And when she gets in the water with us it is easier for everything to work out," Mireia says.

Focusing on the next season

Right now, Mireia is focused on the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha next January, where it will be decided which teams go to the Olympic Games in Paris next summer. 

"During the season, a lot of things can happen, but right now my focus is Doha as a World Championship, and not so much as 'pre-Olympics.' In the end, the spot is for the whole team, not for one person, so you have to try until the end," Hernández mentions.

As for her personal goal this next season, that is to improve again on her most recent result.