Giving back: EA Athletes Committee profile of Emma Garcia

Spain’s 27-year-old Emma Garcia, who retired with world, European and European Games medals in artistic swimming, is vice-chair of the European Aquatics Athletes Committee.

How did you get into the sport?

It was a funny coincidence. I never heard or watched this sport before, I didn’t knew even it existed. Every summer I did this summer camp at the club where I learned to swim (Club Natació Sabadell) and one of these summers they literally presented this sport to me, and I chose it for that summer.

I immediately fell in love with it. The coaches gave me the opportunity to keep practising this amazing sport during the whole year and of course I said yes.

So I started when I turned 10 years old with this sport. It was actually a little bit late to start in this sport because the younger you are the easier it is to learn some basic but important skills. But I didn’t care and just started – and you know what they say, it’s never too late to start anything!

Did you have any inspirational figures who encouraged you in the pursuit of your sport?

When I was more aware of the sport and the athletes performing it my eye got caught with Gemma Mengual, Ona Carbonell and Andrea Fuentes from Spain, my country.

And of course it was always impressive to watch Svetlana Romashina from  Russia or Virginie Dedieu from France. Every time you see them swim it is like a masterpiece – the way that they move, how they express and make you feel… they were clearly making art in the swimming pool.

What have been the main challenges in your career?

Of course the easiest way to answer is injuries, because I can’t think about any athlete how hasn’t ever had one. In my particular case, I had two of them more important or having more impact in my career, specially the last one that kept me out of the water at my last World Championships.

But I have to say that mental health is a really important topic here. We all struggle at some points during our careers with that, and it can be from how you see yourself, the constant comparisons, the consequences of the injuries, the thought of months preparing for the competitions and being exhausted 24/7, or even feeling that you’re not good enough.

It can be everything that triggers you, especially when you are so tired and sensitive or even having complicated weeks maybe with studies and exams too.

What about your competitive career gave you most satisfaction? What have been the high points?

When I think about it I can remark three special moments. My first was making my World Championships debut in Gwangju, South Korea in 2019. The second was when I became a world mixed duet technical silver medallist with Dennis Gonzalez at the 2023 edition in Fukuoka – it was a really difficult medal to get for us, but finally after years we made it.

And the last one was when Dennis and I won the gold at the 2024 European Championship in Belgrade after lots of years winning silver.

 But I have a lot of good memories –  all the laughter with my team-mates, all the people from other countries I know because of the sport, and of course all the things that I learned during these years.

I became the person I am today because of all these moments, the good and the bad ones. Because of course, I had really difficult times, competitions that went not as good as I wanted… but after it you realise that everything is part of the journey and you will be able to enjoy more the good ones.

How difficult did you find it being an athlete who has just finished their competitive career – how easy was it to find a new direction?

In my particular case it wasn’t so hard. When I was still active I was learning and looking outside the sport world to see what I liked or what I would like to do. After I knew I wanted to do something different, I decided to take a step back from the world of competition world.

But I have to say that being part of the Athletes Committee here in the European Aquatics helped me a lot because it’s another way of saying connected to the sport and trying to make it better.

Why did you decide it was worth making the effort to give back to sport in the way you are doing and what are your ambitions for it as an Athlete Committee member?

The opportunity came to me the first time the Athletes Committee was created in 2022. My federation proposed that I applied – and I couldn’t say no!

I’m just a girl who loves to help and try to make things better so I didn’t have doubts about it. I have to say that in the beginning I was a little bit scared about whether I would be able to do everything and do a great job. But now I really love every step from 2022, how we are changing things, making it better for athletes and being their voice. It really is a privilege to take part of it.

And every year I’m more hungry than the past one to continue taking part in it and making real changes. So for me, from the beginning, I knew it was worth it.

What are you doing elsewhere in your life in terms of work/study/interests?

I finished an MBA and also did a SIGA leadership programme and some luxury/design courses.

Apart from this work I have two different projects. One is undertaken on my own – helping women through my experiences and creating a community for them to feel safe and empowered.

The other one is a podcast with a friend of mine. We’re just finishing this first season and it’s starting to grow so we are really happy and excited for everything that will come from the next one!

And finally I have my social media where I create some content and it allows me to experiment with new things and the things that I love. I also have opportunities with brands, projects, TV… what can I say, I’m a curious woman with a lot of things to do and explore!

Mike Rowbottom for European Aquatics

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