"I even got scared before a match"

BarcelonaElite athletes are accustomed to navigating the line between success and failure, a dangerous one that can jeopardize their mental health. Jennifer Pareja, recognized as one of the best water polo players in history, doesn't hide her most difficult experience. "I used to get scared before a match. In 2004 and 2008, we missed out on the Olympic Games, and for me, 2012 was the last chance. If we hadn't qualified, I would have retired without realizing the dream I had. I remember the night before the Olympic match. I was afraid because it meant losing a dream that my family and I had fought so hard for." Pareja, who is currently the CEO of the Association of Olympic Athletes (ADO), found her own solution. "To overcome the fear, I tried to repeat the pattern that had led us to success. Everything was automated, and we just had to repeat it." “We qualified for the Games, and it’s one of my best memories,” she says.

“Mentality is the differentiating factor in high performance. There comes a point where athletes reach the maximum they can train for, and the mind becomes the deciding factor between winning and losing. Sport cannot be understood without the psychological aspect. I worked on it from a young age at the CAR (High-Performance Center) in Sant Cugat,” Parej acknowledges.

Water polo is a very demanding discipline. “Despite competing in a team sport, each player has individual psychological work to do. There’s also a group aspect. The key is sharing a goal. When he didn’t know us at all and we had just finished eleventh in the world, our coach, Miki Oca, had us anonymously write down our goal on a piece of paper. That helped us understand that we all had to work very hard,” Pareja explains.

Internal competition must be cultivated so that individual interests never conflict with collective ones. "Each athlete has to accept their role. If everyone accepts it and is happy, the group grows significantly. When we achieved that, the change was evident. There are many small things necessary to win, and they must be valued. We were thirteen crazy women willing to do anything. If Oca had told us to do our best," argues the former player. "An elite team without egos is the ideal team. We were one, and so is the current Spanish national team, which became Olympic champions. We changed our lifestyles to believe we could succeed," she summarizes. The vertigo of retirement

Pareja boasts an impressive list of achievements, having been crowned European champion (2014), world champion (2013), Olympic silver medalist (2012), and European silver medalist (2008). "My biggest shock came when I retired. It was the hardest moment, but also a lesson. I think you don't realize how strong you can be until it happens. I wasn't prepared and I had to overcome it as best I could. I used all the lessons I had learned during my time as a player. When you've fallen, hit rock bottom, but I learned to be resilient. I had to take care of my mental health."