Susana Rodríguez: “These last few years are the ones I have enjoyed the most of my career”

The Spanish triathlete Susana Rodríguez acknowledges that it is “still a little difficult” for her to assimilate all the successes she is achieving, such as the eighth world gold a few weeks ago in Pontevedra, and admits that “these last years” are the ones she is “enjoying the most” in her career, with the primary role of her guide, Sara Pérez, whom she sees “today as a very good friend.”

“It’s still a little difficult for me (to assimilate what she has won). When I started playing sports, I never would have thought that it would bring me so many things, and when I stop and look back and see the entire trajectory, it is incredible seeing it as a whole. I am surprised and feel proud and grateful,” said Susana Rodríguez during the recognition ceremony with her guide Sara Pérez organized this Monday at the Higher Sports Council (CSD) after winning her eighth world title.

The Galician recalled that “the road has been as beautiful as it has been hard” since she has had to manage her career along with “studies, then her specialty and then her job.” “They have been very intense years and I have had to adjust to the demands of each of the tasks because sport requires 24 hours of your day to prepare in the best way,” he stressed, without forgetting that for this he has “the help of many people.”

The double Paralympic champion is also clear that her successes do not relax either her or Sara Pérez. “I think about achieving small improvements like being more efficient in swimming, cycling and running to be more solid and thus see where it takes us in the future. We are looking forward to making things difficult in the next two years for our rivals, but these last few years are the ones that I am enjoying the most in my career. I have had difficult moments and my relationship with Sara has helped me get through them in the best way,” he confessed.

Rodríguez has been “aware for a few years now” that it has been important for children to learn more about sports for people with disabilities. “Being a reference is a very big responsibility because you have to rise to the occasion, but it is also very nice,” said the triathlete.

Of his guide, he admires “his empathy, his ability to adapt to circumstances and his naturalness.” “She is always looking for a way to explain a swimming exercise to me to see how I can understand it better. She is a teammate and today a very good friend,” said the woman from Vigo.

“It is very difficult to find support athletes, who are girls and in triathlon. Running at my pace, Sara is able to talk to me and knows me so much that she realizes when I am distracted and is a bit of a voice of conscience. That she is well tells me that she is going to be a winning horse,” she added about her current guide.

Susana Rodríguez likes “triathlon and sports too much” and that is her greatest motivation. “I am happy with the life I have. I like training, I have a good time, and competing more of the same. There are always ‘little things’ that you can change to be a little better and not focus so much on winning titles,” he warned.

Finally, and given the announcement this Monday of General Elections on November 29, he stressed “recognizing what has been done well in recent years” in sports. “I have a reputation for being vindictive and always asking for more, I am also demanding of others,” she said with a laugh.

“There have been many changes, such as the arrival of ‘Team Spain’, which has meant a before and after. Whoever wins should give it continuity. I would seek more protection for the athlete against major injuries or retirement, or to change the taxation of prizes and other aid, but I think it has been a fruitful stage in sport,” he concluded.

SARA PÉREZ: “WHAT WE FEEL LIKE ONE MAKES EVERYTHING FLOW MORE”

For her part, Sara Pérez highlighted that “being in the Games and winning medals is within the reach of very few people.” “And Susana has done it eight times. In recent years, perhaps I have been able to enjoy things that I previously enjoyed, such as being able to convey how people are or where their family is, and seeing with my own eyes winning a big date, is something that seems spectacular to me,” he said.

“Maybe we started out as less friends and now we are much more, I am excited to continue watching her make history. As in any personal relationship, the connection is there or not and I try to find a way to see what she needs, be empathetic and laugh. When you compete with a couple, everything that is outside of sport does many times more than what is inside and that we feel like one makes everything flow more,” she explained. In this sense, she pointed out that “sincerity is key” and that it is “fundamental” for an athlete like Rodríguez who “feels the great pressure of when you are the best” that the person next to her “is not going to judge you.” “You are there to add and not subtract,” he added.

The former swimmer is clear that the Galician “has many virtues.” “But for an athlete who has won everything and who from the outside looks like she wins easily, having the ability to always be alert and need to do everything perfectly is something that I admire a lot because it is not easy,” she admitted. “We both demand a lot from each other, but perhaps in moments of weakness I’m there saying ‘Come on, give it a little more,'” she said.

RODRÍGUEZ URIBES: “YOU ARE REFERENT”

Also present at the event were the president of the CSD, José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes, the general director of the Spanish Paralympic Committee (CPE), Francisco Botía, and the national triathlon coach, Iñaki Arenas.

For Uribes, the two triathletes are “references, not only for the last World Cup but for everything it means and what you do together,” and he assured that this was “an act of recognition and self-satisfaction.” “In the end, the CSD, the Committee and the federation are behind and at the side. The successes are based on merit, talent and work, but also on the support of the CPE and the FETRI and, ultimately, the CSD,” said the leader, who will “always” remain in his memory the gold in Paris 2024 that this duo achieved.

Francisco Botía described the tribute as “very well deserved” because Susana Rodríguez is an “athlete who is part of the history of Spanish sport” and that her eight titles are “an extraordinary number” and a “career built on effort, perseverance, ambition and an enormous capacity to set new challenges.”

“If something defines her, it is her way of competing and her ability to demonstrate that excellence is having the necessary capacity to have new goals again,” continued the manager, who had a “very special recognition” with Sara Pérez. “Thank you for accompanying her on this path and being much more than a guide, you have formed an extraordinary sports alliance,” he said.

Finally, Iñaki Arenal, national triathlon coach, does not hide that the Galician has had “a brilliant career from the beginning” and that “she is an example for everyone” and “a track record for Spanish sport.” “She doesn’t give up, she always looks for new goals and tries to be better every day. She and Sara know how to take advantage of the good and forget about the bad, and that is difficult because the pace they follow is exhausting,” he concluded.