The extraordinary story of the Terré sisters: "Sometimes I wish I had had their life"

Barcelona"It's a huge source of pride that they're my sisters," acknowledges Natàlia Terré (Barcelona, ​​2001), shortly after leaving the operating room following cruciate ligament surgery. Her sisters, Martina (2002) and Mariona (2004), are the two goalkeepers for the Spanish women's water polo team, the reigning Olympic champions, who debuted on Monday at the European Championships in Portugal with a defeat against Hungary (9-7). Fourteen of the fifteen players are Catalan. Martina, one of the best goalkeepers in the world, wanted to play hockey: "But I couldn't, because there weren't any girls' teams," she says. She had also tried artistic gymnastics. She took up swimming and then water polo: "I only lasted a day as a player because there's a lot of contact. I've always been a goalkeeper thanks to some boy or girl who hit me really hard, and I thought: 'I'm not going back here.' I didn't think it was my sport." And so it was in goal. "I'd rest my feet by the pool so I wouldn't get tired during training," he reveals, laughing. At 23, he already boasts a European gold and silver medal, a World Championship silver and two bronze medals, and an Olympic gold.

Mariona started playing basketball, following in Natalia's footsteps. "We even played together. At the time, I wasn't thrilled about it because I was younger and taller," admits the older sister. Weekends were spent between sports halls and swimming pools. Mariona continues: "One day, Martina's coach asked me if I wanted to try water polo. I loved it and started playing as a player." Then, in 2016, Martina broke a finger a few days before a tournament in Lloret de Mar, and they asked her if she wanted to replace her. That's how she discovered goalkeeping. She made her debut with the Spanish national team, winning bronze at the World Championships last summer.

The Paris Games, from the stands

She participated in the preparations for the Paris Olympics, but didn't make the final roster. She watched the final from the stands, alongside Natalia: "We were like two little girls enjoying watching our sister. It was incredible. I also had a moment of thinking, 'Wow, I'd love to experience all of this someday. And if I can do it with Martina, even better.'" "We stayed away from our parents because my mother gets very nervous and overwhelmed us," she laughs. Her parents' names are Lali and Xavi. Martina, a key player in the Olympic gold, kept looking for them in the stands when she was attacking the Spanish team, but she couldn't find them because the pool was packed. Martina says it's "an honor to be able to defend the goal for the national team alongside both sisters," a dream come true multiplied by two, but she admits that there's work to be done to try to minimize the impact and separate the two realities, because "if you don't take the sport to a personal level," it can be a burden.

She admits that Natalia, the older sister, helps them "step out of the bubble a bit." "Water polo is our life, and we've dedicated ourselves to being athletes day and night for many years. We live in a world where everyone is an athlete and where everyone understands that we have to train eight hours a day. And in this sense, she shows us what real life is like. All the things you can encounter, all the obstacles you can face. We've had work contracts since we were 15. We were able to get into the program without having to get a high grade because a five is enough to be an international player. For me, other people aren't like that. Two contrasting realities: "Sometimes she goes on vacation for a month and a half, and I think, 'Wow, what a life!'"

The "freedom" to "be able to do things" that Natalia, the third sister, has

Natalia speaks of the "freedom" of "being able to do things": "I wouldn't trade my life for anything." She admits that at times it has been difficult having two sisters like Martina and Mariona, always being the messenger of congratulations. "You always compare yourself to those around you, and having two sisters like that and not being quite like them yourself makes you feel somewhat inferior. Not so much now, but when I was little I compared myself more," she explains. Constantly hearing everyone tell her or her parents how good her sisters were made her think that she must not have felt it as much. Sometimes she also felt somewhat "left out" because of the very, very common path her sisters followed. "Now it doesn't affect me as much, but that's also because I've worked on it," she says. Sometimes she has to stand up at home and ask them to stop talking about water polo for a few seconds. She had planned to be in Madeira, like in so many other places before, but it won't be possible because of her crossword puzzle injury. She works as a sales assistant in a clothing store and enjoys amateur basketball.

Mariona, the youngest, picks up the thread: "Natalia has always reminded us that there's more to life than water polo." "He has friends from university, friends from school, all sorts of people. Sometimes I'm envious: he's been able to experience all of this and has been able to maintain and keep all those friendships. I've only managed to keep one or two old friendships, but you don't have that time to nurture them," she admits. She takes a breath and continues: "Sometimes I think, 'I'd love to have had the life she's had.' In the sense of seeing reality. Of seeing that there's a whole world beyond water polo. Now she's going for coffee with her friends, now she's going somewhere, and you think, 'How cool.'" Every life has its price, but the three of them smile proudly. Together as always.