Her passion for the water began at the age of 11, and today, at the age of 20, as well as being an athlete, Mariana is a student studying Aquatic Sciences and a recent Grade 1 coach. ‘Nobody can get me out of the water,’ she says with determination. Her connection to artistic swimming came about after a period in which she combined swimming, ballet and music. Her busy schedule led her to choose a sport that would unite her passions, and that's how she found artistic swimming.

‘I love fierce competition,’ she confesses. Initially, she thought that pure swimming might be more serious, but when she saw two older students doing a duet in artistic swimming, she decided that it was what she wanted to do. ‘I had to come here,’ she recalls with emotion.

For Mariana, holidays are not synonymous with a complete break. ‘An athlete can never stand still, not even during the holidays. We always pack a cap and goggles to do some exercises in the pool. We really need to stretch our legs, it's part of us.’ In addition, their coach, Sílvia Pinto, always sends videos of exercises for the athletes to keep in shape during the rest period.

Starting training again

‘Starting training again is always difficult; on the one hand, you have body aches, but on the other, it's meeting up with your team-mates, who are already great friends,’ she says. In artistic swimming, training is divided into two parts: dry training and water training. Dry training includes strength and flexibility exercises and markings, while in-water training covers pure swimming, apneas and artistic swimming techniques. ‘The first training sessions are always very fun, they involve physical fitness, but in a relaxed way. We always end up laughing.’

Mariana describes the pre-season as physically demanding but psychologically stimulating: the daily training sessions during the competition phase are replaced by four or five weekly training sessions. ‘In sport, you always think about what it's going to cost, but if you think about the feeling of fulfilment at the end of the season, the sense of reward, it gives you the strength to start again and start training.’

September marks the start of preparations for competitive events. The first national competition takes place in December, followed by level competitions in January and February; in March and April the main event takes place, and in July there's the National Summer Championships. ‘It's hard to juggle everything, and not every moment is good, but it pays off. The medals, lifting the cup. We cling to each other a lot and that helps us resist tiredness and demotivation. Our coach is our constant source of motivation,’ she admits.

‘I don't give up anything, I adapt,’ says Mariana, who guarantees that she doesn't stop doing “the typical teenage programmes”. ‘I do everything according to my schedule, I just have to manage it.’ Going to university brought new challenges, but the support of her team and family was fundamental and Mariana passed this great test of resilience with flying colours.

For those who want to take their first steps in artistic swimming at Fluvial, it all starts with the sports and multidisciplinary school, which covers the three main disciplines: water polo, artistic swimming and pure swimming. This school provides a solid foundation for athletes who, after this initial training, can choose the sport they most identify with.