A Catalan woman of steel competing in the toughest events on the planet

BarcelonaMarta Sánchez (Barcelona, ​​​​1995) has made a name for herself among the strongest women in the world. When she was little, she spent a lot of time in the water doing synchronized swimming. Now she does the same, but in a completely different discipline: now she swims hard in one of the three stages of the Ironman, the famous triathlon races that consist of swimming 3.86 kilometers, cycling 180.25 kilometers, and running a marathon (42.2 kilometers).

Sánchez is now preparing for the November 8th and 9th event in Marbella, a city that will become the epicenter of adventure sports with the first edition of the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Spain., A test with shorter distances, involving a 1.9-kilometer swim, a 90-kilometer bike circuit, and a half marathon. Sánchez arrives as the only elite triathlete from Spain, occupying sixth place in the world rankings, which allows her to dream of reaching the podium. In the men's category, Reyes Estévez, a two-time world medalist in the 1,500 meters, has made the leap to this discipline.

The Osona resident in Vallès Oriental had competed in lower categories in synchronized swimming, where she had achieved good results. But at 17, she had to decide what to do. "It's a sport where it's hard to get ahead, with an expiration date. And at 17, it was time to decide and study. And that's when, at the town gym, where I went to stay in shape, I met my partner, Arnau Pericas, who does triathlons," she explains. Arnau suggested she join him. And her life changed completely, both emotionally and professionally. "Back then, I didn't know how this sport worked, or the order, or whether they were separate days or together... and he taught me the details. And I was hooked," she adds.

And it's been 12 years. "Everything has changed a lot, both the material and the preparation. Brands are investing in this sport, the preparation has improved... I had the dream of being an Olympic triathlete, but I had to move on. A natural evolution, in fact. The logic is to start with shorter distances, to squeeze out everything that's speed, power... and then gradually add more.endurance, towards endurance, as I have done. The pandemic was a bit of a dead end, when the door to going to the Olympic Games closed. And it was time to take the step forward to the Ironman, which suits my personality quite well," says a woman who keeps getting good results.

Also in events where you have to adapt to different climates, to complicated waters, to tough roads in some of the most spectacular landscapes in the world, like Hawaii. "There's nothing idyllic about it!" she points out with a laugh. "The cool thing is that it's always different. You prepare for three different sports, which makes this sport less boring than others. The climate changes, the distances too... Each event is a world of its own, and that makes it very exciting," she reasons. In fact, to prepare for the World Championships held in Kona, Hawaii, where she had to withdraw due to injury, she tried to prepare for the weather conditions: "I would lock myself in the bathroom at home with the reel to pedal the cart. I would use a heater and turn on the hot water tap to try to emulate the conditions. I would train there, closed, sweating," she says with a great sense of humor. Looking ahead to the Marbella event, with a road full of climbs, she is currently training in Montseny. "I think the circuit suits me well. It's better for women like me and not larger athletes," she explains.

But every Ironman event is different. And she knows it. A few weeks ago, she was the only professional state representative at the long-distance World Championships in Kona, considered the mecca of the sport. Sánchez qualified thanks to a sixth-place finish at the 2024 World Championships in Nice, France, a resounding success. "Unfortunately, I got injured and had to withdraw during the marathon," she says. And she arrived full of hope, after great results like a silver at the Ironman in South Africa and a third place in Lake Placid, in the United States. "A dream would be to qualify for the World Championships in Kona at the same time as my partner. I started in this sport for him, and now he's suffered injuries, and I try to cheer him on. This sport may seem lonely, but on a day-to-day basis, both my partner and my coach are key. It would be a dream to both be in Kona," she confesses. But before that, there's Marbella, an event where she wants to continue growing, without fear.