For Brazil, the Aquatic Marathon Goes Swimmingly and Their Hopeful Takes Bronze
Poliana Okimoto checked the weather forecast, the tide forecast and the ocean conditions in Rio de Janeiro every day. All this data prognosticated that the sea would be cold and choppy, which is what Okimoto was preparing for.
When she arrived at Copacabana beach this Monday (15) she was met with the happiest surprise of her life: calm and warm water, a perfect environment in which to swim.
Poliana gave 100% and came out of the water satisfied with a fourth place ranking. She won bronze after the Frenchwoman Aurélie Muller was disqualified for "dunking" the head of her Italian rival, Rachele Bruni, just seconds before the finish line. The Italian came away with silver, and Sharon van Rouwendaal, of Holland, won the gold.
Poliana is the first Brazilian to win a medal in a swimming event. Okimoto's career in recent years has been as choppy as the sea for which she had been training. This medal marks a welcome change of current in her career.
In Beijing 2008 Okimoto came in seventh place. In London, she contracted hypothermia and was forced to bow out of the competition. Poliana became ill with depression for various months, and only managed to re-emerge at World Championships in 2013, where she was triumphant with a gold.
From then the swimmer managed to regain focus and go from strength to strength. She was swimming 100km per week, and keeping her 33-year old frame as trim and fit as it needed to be.
She was so ready and relaxed that she even managed to change to a risky strategy, deciding not to stop at a food station at the last 5km mark of the Rio race. She reckoned she would be able to catch the lead group if she took this extra time.
Poliana's story shows how you can pick yourself up from a rough patch, and get back out there. She says she deserves the medal. She deserves it alright.
Translated by GILLIAN SOPHIE HARRIS