There is but one chance left. 24 years on the line. Glory is separated by seconds in between the walls spaced out by 50 meters in Mission Viejo, California.
He dives in. Butterfly. Backstroke. Breaststroke. Last 50 meters are freestyle. The searing pain digs in but he’s oh so, so close.
It’s not enough.
11 one-hundredths of a second off the mark Olympic qualifying time.
0.11. The amount of time it takes to blink, if not less.
“I don’t know if there’s a next time,” he says. Regret doesn’t fit into 11 one-hundredths. His held is head high.
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In 2015, Ángel Mártinez didn’t speak any English when he arrived to the U.S. as a Division I collegiate swimmer.
Six years later, Mártinez finds himself in a similar situation - he may not speak Japanese but this time he’s at the Olympic Games in Tokyo where he will swim the 200 I.M. representing Mexico.
A year of uncertainty due to the coronavirus pandemic, closed facilities and pools, lack of support from the very institutions meant to provide aid, and a miss of an Olympic qualifying time by a mere 11 one hundredths of a second were all swept aside on the morning of 5 July when Mártinez received the official FINA invitation to compete in Tokyo in the 200 individual medley.
“When I put on (the Mexico) uniform, it was like a dream,” Mártinez told reporters before setting off to Japan from a Mexico City airport.
Credit: @angelmtz97
For a swimmer who has been supported more by his family, colleagues, coaches, and mentors and those who give a damn about the sport in the country and less by the Mexican Swimming Federation that has reportedly not reached out to its own swimmers in months, Mártinez’s trajectory has been nothing short of impressive.
Mártinez comes from a family of athletes, with an Olympic open water swimming sister and a brother who also won national swimming titles in Mexico, but he personally didn’t start swimming until his early teenage years.
“I was so bad,” Mártinez recalls. With time, the Monterrey swimmer made a name for himself winning national titles and shattering records. On a summer training trip to Florida in 2013, Mártinez sought to follow the path that other Mexican swimmers had before him: to compete at the collegiate level in the U.S., and especially at a Division I school.
To say that this was ambitious for someone who didn’t speak English and knew close to nothing about the collegiate system in the States might be a severe understatement.
“When I talked to the A&M coaches and said ‘I’m ready to go, where do I sign?’ I was told that, no, I had to wait. I had to go to the university, figure out if I liked it, see if there was money available. I had to take so many vocabulary and grammar exams,” the 24-year-old said.
By the time he was able to secure a spot on the A&M swim team - where fellow Mexicans Mauro Castillo, Omar Enriquez, and Liliana Ibañez had also trained - the Mexican national champion realized that he was but a small fish in a much, much faster pond.
“The level of competition changed so much. In the States, I was no one. It’s something that affects you psychologically,” Mártinez remembered. “Since I was 15, I was used to winning national titles, I had an idea that I was very good. In youth world championships, I placed 40th. It was a wake-up call that I wasn’t the best.”
Mártinez’s five years at A&M were an escalation of successes. From knowing little about what was going on to not making the NCAA finals, Mártinez eventually found himself breaking A&M school records, beating renowned rival University of Texas, and making the finals of the NCAA with his relay.
“I did something that I never thought I could do. Graduating from university without knowing the language… I’m very proud of what I’ve done and I now know that I can reach whatever goal I set for myself,” Mártinez said.
Last May, a point in time where Mártinez said he felt at his best but had yet to qualify for Tokyo he had a sentiment that his swimming career was nearing its end. “If I retire now, my whole life I will think about what would have happened. If I make the team, I will know that I have done so and I will never regret it.”
That dream continues on 28 July when Mártinez takes his marks on the now red Olympic blocks as one of the three swimmers on Mexico’s team.
As for post-Tokyo, Mártinez was recently unveiled as a new professional member of the International Swimming League Cali Condors for the 2021-2022 season. Not bad for someone who only weeks ago thought his swimming career was concluding.
“So many years of sacrifices are at last bearing fruit. I still feel like I’m in a dream and I haven’t woken up… they say dreams do come true and I’m living mine,” Mártinez wrote on his Instagram page 19 July.
Credit: @angelmtz97
Note: Quotes are from a September 2020 interview with Mártinez.
Link to Mártinez’s merchandise to help support his Olympic dream: https://mynilmerch.com/collections/angel-martinez