The Spanish Pablo Fernández achieved the Guinness Record for kilometers swum in a pool against the current in 24 hours at the Santa María de los Apóstoles school in Madrid, leaving the new record at 104.4 for the 102.8 of the previous record held by the Olympic medalist Maarten Van Der Weijden.
Fernández jumped into the pool at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, April 19, and came out a day later to the applause of family, friends, and children belonging to the school. who encouraged him during the final stretch with songs and banners. Also present during the challenge were Rocío Albert, Deputy Minister of Education for the Community of Madrid; and Alberto Tomé, Deputy Minister of Sports.
In this way, he also becomes the Spanish swimmer with the most Guinness Record in history, since with this he accumulates a total of six. The previous ones were swimming 36 hours without interruption; the longest swim in the ocean with 250 kilometers; the longest swim in open water in 24 hours; that of the fastest 100 km also in open sea and that of the fastest 5 km with shackles In the feet.
“I am very happy, I still do not believe it. This is a mental challenge, because you had to swim more than 102.8 kilometers and maintaining your technique after so many hours has been super complicated. The support of 600 children at the school has helped me to maintain my concentration and to gain that extra strength”, he declared to EFE.
“At 2 or 3 in the morning I suddenly slowed down and I thought that I was not going to beat the current record. But I’ve focused on every stroke, on every hour that followed and when it has dawned I have felt much better. I have improved the speed and we have been able to break the record”, he added.
Precisely the dream has been one of its main enemies: “I have had three coffees. It has also helped me that many people have come to see me. Family, friends, teachers, school students Santa María de los Apóstoles de Carabanchel, which is my neighborhood. They have been cheering me on until the last moment.”
Regarding the preparation, he indicated: “Eating fasting is very key and then swimming every day for 3 or 4 hours, I get up at five in the morning. There are also gym sessions in the afternoon, meditation, a lot of technique and a lot of concentration. so that when the time comes you can surrender. I didn’t imagine it would come to this when I broke the first record, I still don’t believe it. It’s crazy.”
On the other hand, he spoke of the cause behind everything: “It was for the launch of the Clicollege Foundation, which helps promote the entrepreneurial spirit among children from the poorest neighborhoods of Madrid. I am very happy to launch the foundation and to try to inspire the future generation of children, to make them see that anything is possible if you work hard and with effort”.