Guillem Pujol and Mireia Belmonte star in the 115th Nadal Cup

The traditional Barcelona Nadal Cup, a historic swimming event that celebrated its 115th edition this Wednesday, December 25, left a record victory for Guillem Pujol and an emotional triumph for the Olympic medalist Mireia Belmonte .

The Port of Barcelona was once again the setting for the departure and arrival of this symbolic Christmas event, the oldest open water event in all of Spain and with more spotlights if possible this Wednesday due to the presence of a Belmonte that lived up to the billboard. .

The quadruple Olympic medalist, who currently swims for Club Natació Barcelona, ​​organizer of the event, took the victory, a triumph shared with Laura Rodríguez, a clubmate. “I have always been looking forward to this competition but the calendar didn’t fit me,” confessed the one from Badalona.

Belmonte, with the aim of continuing to grow in his training ahead of next summer’s World Cup in Singapore, won the 200-meter test, with a turn at a buoy 100 meters from the start and finish in front of the well-known statue of Columbus, and taking over from Jimena Pérez, winner in 2023, in the list of winners.

Meanwhile, in the men’s category, the undisputed favorite accomplished to establish the record for victories in the event. The Catalan Guillem Pujol, current Spanish 10 kilometer champion, won the Nadal Cup for the eleventh time, all of them consecutively since he won the 2014 edition.

Pujol maintained his hegemony and became the swimmer with the most victories, breaking ties with Daniel Serra. The first Nadal Cup was held in 1907 with the victory of Edwald Poeschke and we had to wait more than two decades for female participation, with the victory of Maria Lluïsa Vigo in 1928.