The Swimmer Who Nearly Quit, Lost Her Father, and Won Silver — María de Valdés Álvarez

The Race That Changed Everything

In February 2024, the fishing port of Doha became the stage for a career-defining moment. The women’s 10-kilometer marathon swim at the World Aquatics Championships was not merely a race for medals — it was a qualifier for the Paris 2024 Olympics. For María de Valdés Álvarez, it felt like a last chance.

She had spent the previous two years fighting injuries, grief, and the creeping doubt that her moment had passed. Her father, Antonio — a swimmer himself and her earliest inspiration — had died during her preparation. For two months afterward, she could not bring herself to enter the water.

Yet there she was in Doha, stroke for stroke with Sharon van Rouwendaal, the Dutch Olympic champion. De Valdés hung at the front through six grueling laps, slipping as low as twelfth before clawing her way back. In the final sprint, she touched the pad one-tenth of a second behind van Rouwendaal, claiming silver and an Olympic quota.

“I looked up at the sky and the first thing I thought of was him,” she said afterward. “Every stroke I took, I thought of my father.”

A Pool Swimmer Who Found the Sea

Born on October 19, 1998, in Fuengirola, Málaga, de Valdés grew up in a family where swimming was a birthright. Her father had been a competitive swimmer; her uncle had swum at the international level. She trained in the 800-meter and 1,500-meter freestyle — the longest distances in pool swimming.

She competed at the 2020 European Aquatics Championships in the 1,500-meter freestyle, but Olympic qualifying standards remained beyond her reach. The pool has limits: 50 meters from end to end, turn after turn. For someone who wanted to swim forever, the walls felt like interruptions.

Open water changed everything. No lane lines. No rigid splits. Only strategy, endurance, and the raw elements. In 2022, at the European Championships in Ostia, Rome, she captured silver in the 5-kilometer open water — her first major international medal.

The Darkest Waters

The year between 2022 and 2024 nearly ended her career. Missing qualification for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics had been devastating — she had met the international standard but was passed over in internal Spanish selection.

“It fell on me like the world was ending,” she recalled. “I didn’t want to know anything about swimming. I wanted to disappear from everything.”

She took time away. A sports psychologist named Andrea Cerrejón helped her rebuild. “She helped me manage the moments of the present and what was going to happen during the race,” de Valdés said. “When I would be out of the race, when I would have a better position — all of that adds up over two hours.”

Then her father fell ill. His death sent her into a spiral. She spent a month training in isolation in the Sierra Nevada mountains, working not just on her physical fitness but on her mind. “About a year and a half ago, I had a very, very hard downturn,” she admitted. “I considered leaving swimming.”

Paris and the Long Game

At the Paris 2024 Olympics, the Seine River was the center of the world’s attention. For de Valdés, just being on the starting line was a victory. She finished 17th in the 10-kilometer marathon swim — not a medal, but a foundation.

In May 2025, at the European Open Water Championships in Stari Grad, Croatia, she added bronze in the 5-kilometer race — her second European podium. The result confirmed that she was not a one-race wonder but a consistent force.

Looking ahead, she has her eyes set on Los Angeles 2028, where she will arrive at 29 — still young by open water standards. “In open water,” she explained, “the older you are, the more experience you have. Everything adds up.”

Her ambition is simple: to bring Spain to the highest place. But she has learned to make peace with uncertainty. “In open water, you never know. It’s not just about you. The tide, the weather, a hit from a rival — anything can happen.”

She has turned grief into propulsion. She nearly quit and then nearly won it all. Her story is not finished. The next chapter is already being written, stroke by stroke, in waters still uncharted.

References

• Openwaterpedia — Maria de Valdes Alvarez profile
• Infobae — “María de Valdés, plata mundial en 10 km en aguas abiertas” (February 2024)
• Mundo Deportivo — “María de Valdés: Era un todo o nada para mí” (February 2024)
• World Aquatics — Maria de Valdes results
• Marca — “María de Valdés, bronce en los Europeos en los 5 km” (May 2025)