Winning the Champions League with your sister: "We understand each other with just a glance."

Barcelona"We came to the conclusion that it was better to play together," joke Ariadna Ruiz (Rubí, 2002) and Elena Ruiz (Rubí, 2004). They've almost always played together, but for a brief period they faced each other in the water polo league. It didn't last long. "It's just that we understand each other with a glance. Or not even that. In the pool, sometimes you think you know what a teammate will do, but you don't always get it right. Maybe you ask her for the ball... That doesn't happen with her; you don't have to ask her for it. It's like telepathy. I think about what she'll do, and, indeed, she does it," says the younger sister about the older one. And Ariadna nods in agreement.

The Ruiz Barril sisters have made a name for themselves among the world's water polo elite. Like sisters Anni and Clara Espar, they made the national team together. They have traveled halfway around the world to participate in the World Championships in Singapore in the Persian Gulf. Her record of achievements is impressive, even though she's still very young. Last season, they were instrumental in giving CN Sant Andreu its first Champions League title in Piraeus (Greece) with a great comeback in the final against CN Sabadell. This was precisely the club where Elena had already won the Champions League a year earlier. For Ariadna, however, it was her first. This weekend, they'll be looking to expand their list of achievements with the European Super Cup. The Sant Andreu team will be playing in the final of this tournament for the first time against the Dutch team from ZV de Zaan at their Pere Serrat swimming pool on Sunday at 2 p.m. "Playing at home is nice; all our fans will be able to come, like the girls Elena coaches," says Ariadna. Yes, Elena, in addition to being the team's top scorer, coaches the U18 girls' team. They compete constantly and study. Elena studies physical activity sciences, and Ariadna studies nursing. When they receive the ARA at the Sant Andreu hospital, she flies in to do her internship at Sant Cugat Hospital. They don't stop.

Water polo is her life. It's a legacy from her mother, who was one of the pioneers of this sport at the Rubí Swimming Club. "We started taking swimming lessons. They took us to learn how to swim when we were about a year old. We've always swum. And a coach offered us to try water polo. Her mother was delighted, so I tried it first," explains Ariadna. "Then she convinced me, because I initially said no. And we've been together ever since," adds Elena. They both still live in Rubí and often stop by the Rubí Swimming Club to train on holidays or see friends. That club is "a 100% family, where people know each other," an organization from which good players have emerged in recent years, like these sisters born in a house "where a lot of sports are watched." But all sports. "Dad and I turn on the TV on the weekend and we binge-watch sports, from motorcycling to whatever, from morning to night. He had played basketball for Espanyol years ago; he's one of those who watches every discipline of the Games on TV." In the summer of 2024, she was able to watch the Games live in Paris, as Elena was key to the Spanish team's gold medal. "A magical moment," explains the team's top scorer. At 16, her younger sister had already gone to the Tokyo Games, where she had scored five goals in her first match and taken silver. "I've always been good at scoring, it comes out," she says as if nothing were out of this world.

A year ago, in the stands of the La Défense swimming pools, her older sister was watching Elena touch the sky with Spanish water polo's first Olympic gold medal. Ariadna had been one step away from being selected, but she was the last to be left off the list. She was just one step away. She had gone to the 2022 and 2023 World Cups, so she thought she could finally be an Olympian. That wasn't the case. "It was a hard blow. It was difficult. But when something like that happens to you, you have to analyze what happened and work to improve. I decided I would return to the national team no matter what," she says. Said and done, this summer she already went to the World Cup, where Spain won bronze, although both prefer not to get carried away when you ask them if they imagine themselves together at the 2028 Games. "There's too much time left. If you want to be there, you have to compete well every day. So we're focusing on what's next," she reasons.

They now play together for the national team and for CN Sant Andreu, where they have renewed their contracts until 2028. Some years, however, they were rivals. "We played together at Rubí and then we separated. We still lived together, but in the pool we were rivals. But the best thing is competing on the same team, because we have that special connection. We have telepathy," says Elena, who shone at Sabadell from 2022 to 2023. Ariadna was previously a Sant Andrea club. "We have a good team; if they defend us two, many teammates can score. This year we've had some changes to the team, with three new foreigners arriving. The pieces will fit together, and we'll be able to compete in a season that will be fun, because CN Sabadell is always there, with a new team, but they're always competing. And CN Mataro has signed. It's good for the spectators and for boosting the league," explains Ariadna.

Sant Andreu arrives at the event with their pride wounded, after losing the final of the Spanish Super Cup against CN Sabadell. "It was a tough blow, but it gives us a boost of motivation. We came into the match feeling bad, but it should help us reach our best," says Ariadna. "We've never lost our hunger for victory. We're a team that has won seemingly lost finals; we have a strong mentality. Now, it's better if we don't have to come back because it's a real struggle," adds Elena. When they lose a match, they're already thinking about how to win the next one.