Swimmer is National Champion of Six Countries

(ATR) Brazilian swimmer Ana Marcela Cunha, owner of 12 medals in World Championships, has a curious record.

The 29-year-old Cunha, considered one of the greatest open water swimmers in history, has been national champion in six countries from 2018 until now.

A few days ago the South American, who is qualified for the Tokyo Olympics, won the Spanish National Open Water Championships, held in Catalonia, in the 5 km event, which is half of the Olympic distance in which she will compete.

According to the blog "Olhar Olimpico", Cunha's feat is facilitated because, in the aquatic marathon, a culture is adopted that is also present in sailing, which allows the exchange of athletes from other countries in national championships.

When she lived in South Africa, in 2018, Ana Marcela claimed the national championship of that country in the 5km and 10km.

In 2019, she went to the United States to participate in the local competition that served as a World Cup qualifier and also won in the 10km.

At the end of last year, during a tour of Europe, she was the gold medalist at the French Championships in the 5km and bronze medalist in the longer distance. On her return to Brazil, she won the Brazil Trophy, which had a Peruvian in second place and an Argentinean in third.

Now, on another European tour, there were two more victories. In Piombino, Italy, she beat Germany's Lea Boy and Italy's Ginevera Taddeuci in the Olympic distance. And this past weekend, in the Catalan town of Banyoles, she captured the Spanish national title in the 5 km and took silver in the 10 km only beaten by the Sharon Van Rouwendaal of the Netherlands, the reigning Olympic champion.

Six national titles from as many nations!

Of her dozen world medals, five are gold, but she is missing one in her gallery, the Olympic one, after her attempts in Beijing 2008 (5th) and Rio 2016 (10th).

Her dream is Tokyo 2020. Cunha is described as the most prolific swimmer in the history of open marathon swimming, the world's number one in the FINA ranking that in 2019 named her the female open water swimmer of the year for the sixth time.

A year in which she was also inducted into the World Swimming Hall of Fame.

At the Pan American Games in Lima 2019 she made history by winning Brazil's first gold medal in the 10 km race in the continental mega event. It was also one of the only medals that Ana Marcela did not have.

Ana Marcela also won an Olympic place in swimming in the 1,500m freestyle event in the pool, becoming the first swimmer from Brazil to qualify for swimming and open water in the same Olympics. But she decided to compete only in the 10 km aquatic marathon.

Written by Miguel Hernandez

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