“The ‘queen of the breaststroke’ thing is like very big, don’t you think? & rdquor;. Jessica Vall he laughs when I tell him what the cover title is going to be. For many it is. And with those thirty-three years from which he contemplates the experiences lived, how much he enjoyed and also suffered, he can carry the scepter to perfection.
Age is a cold datum that, in his case, moves away from his physical and mental reality. But he acknowledges that “There are more prejudices in the case of women than men. You go on competing, yielding, but when you don’t do as expected, they immediately tell you that you’d better retire, that you’ve already missed the point of swimming. It has been very good for me to work with Eva, my psychologist. In a sports career there are times when you’re fine and others not, whether it’s twenty or thirty-three. Look, what I’m looking for is to feel happy. People will always talk, what difference does it make. I try to convey perseverance, sacrifice and that swimming can be an escape route for many people and a window or a door to make it compatible with studies. It is not discriminatory because boys and girls train together and it is a good lifestyle”.
ADRENALINE AND PASSION
love breaststroke because “It gives me sensations that I love. It is the one with which you spend the longest time under the water and I have internalized the sound that my arms make. I flow. I slide. It’s wonderful & rdquor ;. Pure passion, Jess explains that “There is nothing like that adrenaline that makes you know that you are capable of giving everything. There are few days in which I have felt unstoppable and it is so incredible that that is why it hooks me so much. It is your stage, it is your moment and only depending on you is very cool and unmatched & rdquor ;.
Jéssica wants to continue competing but knows that “I am at the end. I want to do it without pressure, without a backpack… I’ve already been through that. I’ve done everything I should. There are dreams to achieve and that’s why I’m still here but what comes to me is a gift”. The Tokyo Olympics were “extremely tough. Pandemic, reclassify us, arrive and give a false positive… I enjoyed them very much because I decided to live them the second. When I finished I decided that I had already sacrificed a lot on a personal level and that I wanted to be with my family more. It is what my mind and body needed. I also started to work and it is not easy to combine everything. Paris? I can only tell you that right now I can’t put all the focus on that & rdquor ;.
DATA SHEET
Texts and coordination: Carme Barceló @barcelocarme
Photographs: Javi Ferrándiz @javi_ferrandiz
Production: Sita Carter @sitacarter
Location: Hotel ME Barcelona (C/Casp, 1-13. Barcelona) @mebarcelonahotel
Makeup and hairdressing: Cristina for Backstage BCN (@backstagebcn)
IG Jessica Vall @jessica_vall
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