The Covid-19 pandemic, which postponed the Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan, to 2021, compromised the Paralympic swimming calendar, leading athletes to amend four years of important competitions. In addition to the Games in Paris (France) in 2024, there were three World Championships: 2022 on Madeira Island (Portugal), 2023 in Manchester (England) and 2025 in Singapore.
The next season does not foresee major events. The stages of the World Series, as the annual world circuit of the sport is known, and the Para-South American Games, in the Colombian cities of Valledupar and Agustín Codazzi, will be the main challenges of 2026. This does not mean that it will be a lighter year in the planning of the Paralympics in Los Angeles (United States). The guarantor is Maria Carolina Santiago, the main name in women’s Paralympic swimming in the country, in an interview with Brazil Agency.
“In our preparation, [2026] It will be very important for us to form the basis of what we want to build in terms of speed and endurance for the Games. Testing a lot of things, being as close as we can control so we don’t deviate from what we already know works. So, we will definitely take advantage of the competitions to test the program”, said the 40-year-old swimmer from Pernambuco.
Carol was born with a retinal disorder called Morning Glory Syndrome, which places her in class S12, for athletes with low vision, intermediate between the three for the visually impaired. She migrated from conventional swimming in 2018 and quickly became one of the biggest names in the adapted sport. There are ten medals, six gold, in just two Paralympics (Tokyo and Paris), which made the Pernambuco native the country’s greatest Paralympic champion and the second woman with the most podium finishes at the Games, three less than sprinter Ádria dos Santos.
In Paris, Carol won gold in the 50 and 100 meters (m) freestyle and in the 100 m backstroke and also won two silvers (100 m breaststroke and 4×100 m freestyle relay). When planning for the Los Angeles cycle, the swimmer and her coach, Leonardo Tomazello, chose to reduce the program of individual events from six to three, prioritizing those in which she was at the top of the podium in the French capital.
The strategy, at least in 2025, worked. At the World Championships in Singapore, the Pernambuco native repeated her gold medals from Paris, winning her third title in the 100 m backstroke and four times in the 100 m freestyle, and also achieved a fourth podium finish, in the 4×100 m medley relay, and a silver in the 4×100 m freestyle relay. Not surprisingly, she was elected female athlete of the year at the Brazil Paralympic Awards for the fourth time, the second in a row, isolating herself as the biggest winner of the trophy among women.
“I can say that it was the most difficult year since I joined the Paralympic movement, but we managed to transform the difficulties into challenges, face, win and perform, as we did at the World Cup”, celebrated Carol.
“The first year [após os Jogos] is always important. It was a World Cup year, in which you can assess exactly where you are in your preparation. The World Cup is the closest thing we have to a Paralympics. So, I evaluate [o desempenho] like a good kickoff”, concluded the multi-time champion.
