-U84633420770Rbb-1024x512@diario_abc.jpg "Race Day Earworm: Singing While Running")
Born in Thailand, raised in Singapore, trains in the United States. And she is the European short course champion in the 200 backstroke. Carmen Weiler (Bangkok, 2004) speaks Spanish, English, German and studied Chinese; It is a jumble of cultures and methods of … cosmopolitan training that grows firm in swimming. With a Spanish mother, Ana, and German father, Stefan, she established herself in the elite. He wants his gold, first podium in an international competition – he was a semi-finalist in the World Cup in Singapore this summer – and that of Carles Coll and Hugo González in Lublin (Poland) to serve as an impetus and guide to build the future of Spanish swimming, after years of drift, with a good base in Europe before dreaming of comparing itself with other powers such as Australia and the United States, whose level, according to Weiler, “is amazing.”
– Has being European champion changed anything for you?
– I didn’t expect this result, so I’m super happy. The gold gives me more confidence for my last national championship, because I graduate in May, and for 2026. Now I know that I can do well in length and yardage. This is a good step. Afterwards, I would like to win another medal in the European long summer.
– Was it a sought-after objective or did it come as a bit of a surprise?
– At the time I was first on the lists, and that gave me a little pressure. But seeing that I qualified for the semis, and then the final, and that I was progressing well, the pressure stopped when I jumped in the final. I just went to enjoy and my best mark came out.
– How did you start swimming in Singapore?
– I started swimming… forever, and I’ve been competing since I was 7 years old. I played tennis and soccer, but I opted for swimming. I was good at it and I liked being with that group of friends. I started training more and when I was 9 years old I went to a local club with a Chinese coach. I continued to improve and went to Nexus International School, where Ivan Bunakov took me; and there I made the leap to the competition level. I started to stand out.
Carmen Weiler, during a competition
– Junior European gold, at 16 years old. Did you notice much the jump to the absolute category?
– It was difficult for me to adapt. The level is much higher. You have to push hard and stay motivated because you go from being top to not even close to the top ten. Sometimes it costs.
– For four years, an elite swimmer at Virginia Tech University. How was the landing?
– When I arrived the team was very large, 80 swimmers. Now we are less. But everything is different. Here the training sessions are shorter. And above all, the environment changes. They cheer a lot, and even shout. It took me a lot to adapt to that. But they help you a lot. And I can swim and continue studying. I’m getting a degree in Biology. I think I made a very good decision when I came here.
– It is said that university athletes are like stars, is that true?
– In the ‘uni’ they do value you a lot as an athlete, but within the swimming group… The level here… you are amazed. Last year at the national championships (NCAA) I came in fifth and eighth in the 100 and 200 backstroke, making my best times ever. Now I’m not even in the top ten in the country. Here people run a lot. The NCAA is one of the highest level competitions in the world.
«Sometimes it is difficult to think positively because I see that my times are not like those of others»
– Do you get overwhelmed by so much competition?
– A little, yes. It’s hard for me to start the season, I improve as there are competitions, but some already start the year with amazing times. And I get to thinking that I don’t know if I’m going to get there. But Sergi always tells me not to worry, that when I am at the peak of the set-up, the times will come. But sometimes it is difficult to think like this, positively because I see that my times are not like others. It’s hard for me, but I know I have to have confidence in the process. That’s why this gold gives me confidence, because this beginning of the season I was not very happy with my times and now I know that I will be able to do well.
– What is your relationship like with your coach (and Carles Coll’s) Sergi López, bronze in the 200 breaststroke in Seoul 88, who had already met you in Singapore?
– Very good. We have been here for almost four years and I have gained a lot of confidence. He is an incredible coach who has helped me a lot in swimming, but also in things in life. He takes care of me a lot.
«It was difficult for me to adapt to the absolute category; “You go from being top to not being even close to the top ten.”
– Tell me about your Monday.
– Monday, Wednesday and Friday we do a double session in water and weights; Tuesday and Thursday, in the morning dry and wet session and on Saturdays, another session. On a Monday it would mean getting up at 5 in the morning; pool training from 5.45 to 7.15; have breakfast; classes; rest and food. In the afternoon: weight training and another session in the water. Dinner, study and do homework, and at ten I’m already in bed. What helps me are my colleagues. I have a great time in training, although they are hard. And having a coach who shows you that he cares about how you are and what you do. And it calms me to have this type of routine, to know what I’m going to do, to have a plan.
– You did not qualify for Tokyo, but you did reach Paris 2024. How did you go from frustration to a first Olympic semi-final?
– Staying super close to Tokyo hurt me. But it served as motivation for me. I arrived in Paris and managed to make two semi-finals and almost enter a final (eight qualified, they came ninth). And the experience was great: the atmosphere was incredible and, above all, competing with the best in the world.
«Having Mireia Belmonte as a reference motivates because it teaches you that you can reach it, that Spanish swimming can reach the medals»
– Is it motivating or painful to have Mireia Belmonte as a reference?
– Motivates because it teaches you that you can achieve. These European medals mean that the Spanish level is rising and that podiums can be reached. In the back, for example, we have grown a lot. And motivation increases, because we see that we can reach international podiums.
– Is there much difference between short and long pool?
– Quite. In short, if you are good at turning and underwater, you have quite an advantage because you can take many seconds off your rivals. I’m good at turning and I’m improving a lot in underwater, but I still have a long way to go and at the distances of 100 and 50 the others are way ahead of me. That’s why 100 is better for me in the long run; and I hope this helps me do great things in the long run.
– Your best and favorite style is back, is she just as good in the others?
– I’m not bad at crawling. Breaststroke and butterfly are terrible for me. I better not even come close.
– What do you think during the race?
– At 200 there is more time to think; In the final I was thinking about the strategy. Because you can’t go to the maximum from the first 50 either. I was going up a little every 50 or adding stronger legs or arms. And seeing my rivals next to me. But in the 100, since it is shorter, you only think about moving your arms faster. The truth is that I don’t think too much either. Sometimes, for example, in the 100th of the heats I didn’t feel great because I had had the 200th the day before. And when I started I could only think that I felt terrible. I got scratched a lot. And other times a song has stuck in my head and I start singing it.
-And are you thinking about Los Angeles 2028?
– I like to go step by step. I don’t like to look that far away.
