Ehe dream of studying and becoming a swimmer with better times is something that Juan Daniel García Ruiz will fulfill, a man from Santander who has been living in the United States since yesterday.
“It is a dream come true, because since I was little I have dreamed of going to study in the United States and train, because the sports level in swimming there is the best. It is a beautiful challenge to face ”, expressed García.
The athlete, just 18 years old, will study international business, a career he is passionate about, at the University of Findlay, in the state of Ohio. However, she does not plan to give up her beloved swimming, which she has been practicing since she was nine years old. “It is a scholarship, which I earned through sports, where I will study and continue my career as a swimmer. The university gave it to me, ”he added.
The beginning
With just nine years, García began to practice swimming in the Recrear of the La Victoria neighborhood and in the Olympic swimming pools of the Alfonso López Sports Unit, in Bucaramanga.
But none of this would have been possible without the support of his parents, Daniel García and Diana Ruiz, who are Juan Daniel’s “mentors,” because when “he did not have all the support of entities such as Indersantander and the League, they were the who paid for my travels, my clothing, everything I needed for sports. They have been the main mentors ”, he acknowledged.
In addition, they were also fundamental in the most complicated moments in the swimmer’s career, because in 2016, at just 14 years old, he thought about retirement.
“I had two pretty tough years, 2015 and 2016, where I felt stagnant, I didn’t improve, I didn’t do anything. To be honest, in those years I hardly trained, I couldn’t find the motivation and if I trained hard I didn’t get the times. In 2016, at Nacional, I injured my leg. I had two paths, either to change clubs or to retire, and I thought about retiring, but something told me that I shouldn’t do it and I changed clubs, and from 2017 I started to grow again, “he said.
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What’s coming for him
García, who considers that his best performance is in the breaststroke (200 meters) and freestyle (800 and 1,500), as well as in the combined events (200 and 400 meters), already knows what he is going to do in North American territory.
“I am going to compete for my university in the United States National Championships, I want to lower my times, qualify for the Colombian Senior Open Team, go to the Youth Pan-American (September, in Cali) and the Olympic Games,” he said, before travel.
Finally, Garcia, who is not at the Club Gatos, said that he wants to go to the Olympics, either to Tokyo, where there are still possibilities, Paris (2024) or Los Angeles (2028), where he hopes to “make a difference with a medal or an Olympic final. I want to make history in Colombian swimming, leave a legacy, a mark ”.
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