Sandy Quiroz, dances, plays piano, is a psychologist and will fulfill the dream of the World Cup in artistic swimming

She plays the piano, he delights in the violin, but his art is enjoyed underwater. Sandy Quiroz and Álvaro Aronés make up the mixed Peruvian artistic swimming duet that will be traveling to Japan this Wednesday to compete for the first time in the Fukuoka World Championships, which runs from July 14 to 30.

For the first time, Peru will be represented in this modality, as well as in diving, and for Sandy it is a dream come true since she has been training a lifetime for moments like this. This is her story.

Today she is 26 years old and has been practicing artistic swimming since she was barely a girl, despite the fact that this modality is not included in the Olympic circuit. However, her motivation went beyond that, she knew that at some point she would get the opportunity to show what she does and she lived it a few months ago when they told her that her level had climbed one more step. : she will go to the World Cup.

“It was always an objective, the dream of going to a World Cup. We trained with the mentality that at some point something good was going to come along to show the potential we have”, Sandy tells us.

In previous years they had told him that he would go to this competition, but for various reasons it did not happen. For this reason, this year when they announced that they would go to Japan, they did not fully believe it. But when it was confirmed, happiness peaked. “If we thought that we were not going to arrive, we would not be here. There were tournaments we didn’t go to but that didn’t make our duet stop being good”, she says.

They have only trained together with Álvaro since 2021, after the hardship of the pandemic and they have a dream that they often talk about. , she says, with illusion that is contagious. Being in the World Cup has also been a great incentive to continue growing.

They come from winning the silver medal in the South American and for their merit the Swimming Federation decided that they go to this important international tournament. This Tuesday they will be presented as part of the team that has names like Alexia Sotomayor, Joaquín Vargas and McKenna de Bever in swimming, Ana Ricci in diving and María Alejandra Bramont-Arias in open water as some of our representatives.

-The history-

He grew up in a swimming pool because his family is very attached to swimming and he combined the water with his passion for art. She likes to sing, dance and artistic swimming requires a lot of ballet, gymnastics and dancing.

“In Peru, you survive, you survive,” he reflects, and refers to the fact that he has been an athlete for more than 16 years. He knew how to take it hand in hand with school –although he also tried volleyball– and complemented it with his psychology degree until he graduated. Of course, there was a year in which he left the pools to dedicate himself to studies, but he felt that his life was not complete. “It is something that he has practiced since he was a child. I realized that I did like her and that she didn’t just do it because she was used to it.

And they survive against many barriers. They are not sponsored –yet– and they do not receive support from the Athlete Program despite their medals. “In my modality there are not five countries in South America that have this discipline and the PAD requires that there be five participants. I won the silver medal, but even if I win the gold, they won’t give me anything. Not because the other countries do not have it, I am not trying hard enough ”, she claims.

Despite this, Sandy does not faint and her work as a psychologist has added to her being an artistic swimming coach at the Swimming Gold Sports Club where she seeks that this discipline continues to stand out at a high level. Although they have the complication that there are few deep pools, an essential requirement -2 to 2.5 meters is required-, the group they are forming has already brought them joy in the last national with medals in children and juniors.

There are few duets in Peru and Sandy together with Álvaro will go to the World Cup to continue growing. We dream about it. They know that the challenge is very big, but they arrive with an enormous effort and the spirit of a lifetime. That is already a victory.

—