London 2012 Olympic Park (Photo: Iñigo Mujika)
The summer is only endless in the legendary 1966 surfing film directed by Bruce Brown. My summer has come to an end now, and after several weeks of silence, I have had the time to reflect on it and get back to blogging. This time, however, I’ll let the images speak for themselves. Here is my pictorial summary of the summer of 2012.
1. July 11-19, Malaga Pre-Olympic camp. The girls of the Spanish Olympic team practicing for the relay under the supervision of coaches José Ignacio González “Taja” and José Antonio del Castillo “Casti”, and biomechanist Raúl Arellano.
2. July 19-25, Surrey Park Pre-Olympic Camp. The team ready fort he first session in the final training venue before moving to the Olympic Village.
3. Coach Fred Vergnoux and his C. N. Sabadell girls “Inspiring a generation” on the way to the pool.
4. July 28, Vitoria-Gasteiz. ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championships was a great success. Eneko Llanos finished 2nd to Australian triathlon legend Chris McCormack.
5. Local triathletes and good friends Ruth Brito and Pedro Oviedo won their respective Age Group World Champion titles.
6. A very emotional Basque paratriathlete Mikel Garmendia, with whom coach Javi Orbañanos and myself have been working fort he past couple of years, became World Champion too.
7. July, Vitoria-Gasteiz. Meanwhile, Ainhoa Murua and partner Jon Unanue were training like beasts in the final preparation for Ainhoa’s biggest race, the London 2012 Olympic Games.
8. Some of the open water sessions in Landa were shared with the young Australian and USA Triathletes, who spent several months training in Vitoria-Gasteiz under the supervision of coaches Jamie Turner and Jonathan Hall, respectively. We called these sessions Landa World Championship Series.
9. August 1, London. First great moment of the Olympic Games: Mireia Belmonte wins the silver medal in the 200 m butterfly…
10. And she let me share the medal with her for a few seconds. She then went on to win another silver in the 800 m Freestyle a few days later. Well deserved success: Mireia has worked as hard as any athlete I’ve ever seen, under the expert guidance of her coach Fred Vergnoux.
11. August 4, London. Ainhoa Murua finished 7th in the Olympic Triathlon. A great result, especially considering that five weeks before she had a knee injury that made us fear she could not even take part in the Games. My acknowledgement to Dr. Mikel Sánchez, who took the best possible care of her knee in those stressful days, and Dr. Eduardo Anitua, who immediately took care of a last minute dental issue. Photo by Finisher Triatlón.
12. Probably my favourite moment of the Olympic Games. No need to comment. Photo by Finisher Triatlón.
13. In great company. These girls made London 2012 an unforgattable experience. In the background, behind Mireia, you can also see Luis Villanueva, the Technical Director of the Spanish Swimming Federation. From my point of view, Luis has been key in making a much needed change in the direction of Spanish swimming. He asked me to join the team almost four years ago, and I want to thank him for that.
14. One last photo from London. Jon and Fred have done more than anyone else to help Ainhoa and Mireia, respectively, on their way to the Olympic Games. My acknowledgement and admiration to both of them.
15. August 7-18, Croatia. After the Olympic Games, I had a very relaxing vacation in Croatia, with lots of good coffee…
16. Pristine beaches.
17. Magnificent monuments.
18. And incredible sunsets.
19. September 2-16, Chile. After a few days home in the Basque Country doing some work with football players and triathletes, my next stop was Chile. A week of lecturing in Santiago…
20. Then some time off in Caldera.
21. Bahia Inglesa.
22. Hypoxic exposure in Nevado Tres Cruces National Park.
23. And mountain biking in Pan de Azúcar National Park.
After all that, it was time to get back home… until my next trip to Colombia in a couple of weeks!
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