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By boat soon, it's hard to imagine a better job. Beach, warmth, sea, sun, a volley ball, music ... «Well, well, everything has its stuff ...», replies quickly Liliana Fernández , Lili (Alicante, 1987), the companion of Elsa Baquerizo, a record loyalty couple in the professional circuit, with 13 years together. The conversation is recurring at dinner parties or when they meet new people. Always the same comment, about the idyllic of his trade, beach volleyball . Both agree that not everything is as it seems at first glance. «You spend 90% of the nights away from home. And there are parties with cold, rain and even snow, in Moscow », clarifies Lili.

"The beach sounds great, but I recognize that I end up abhorring it, " says more blunt Elsa Baquerizo (New York, 1987), before remembering the spots or wounds on the skin that causes the surface of your sport, holiday ground for Immense majority of mortals and severe training for them. More now, on the way to its third Olympic Games . In the previous two they finished in the top 10, getting on the road also European medals. The metal in Tokyo does not obsess them, even if they are part of the favorite group. If they make a good tournament, the prize could fall.

Classified since September, very soon, in winter they only rested a week before starting the preparation thoroughly. At the head of the Spanish duo, an Argentine coach, Sebastian Menegozzo , who was also a professional in beach volleyball and is responsible for tuning his muscles, his playing strategies and also his thoughts. «He often acts as a psychologist. I also have my own, since the London Games. It suits me, there are plays that you end up dreaming about, ”Elsa reveals.

Mental force

The two influence the importance of mental resistance in their sport. They compare it with tennis, where a single point can completely change the dynamics of the match, by just one centimeter. Citan Open , the famous biography that Andre Agassi used to shout with rage all the demons that the racket and the ball had caused him in his career.

«He has a lot of emotional intelligence. It makes us reason, "say the girls of his coach, based in the Canary Islands since 2002." They are easy to manage, I do not have to act as justice of the peace. They get along, each one from his character, ”he replies from Arona, south of Tenerife. He settled there to the murmur of beach volleyball. A technification center has turned the municipality into the operations base of the best couples in the world. These days of February, Sebastian distributes his gaze between his girls and the rivals they will find in Tokyo, all revolts on the Spanish island. They train against teams from Russia, from Poland, from Japan ...

The hostesses have already warned of the extreme atmosphere that they will find in the Shiokaze Park, the venue of their competition, in the middle of the Japanese mega-bay. «Humidity above 95%. They fear that marathon people have serious problems, ”says the coach of the Spanish duo. To catch the tone, they will go through Mexico and Singapore, looking for scenarios that mimic the harsh conditions of Tokyo in August. «It will be like playing in a sauna», intuits Sebastián. More stops will be allowed to drink water, but this will be a good adaptation. That is why Elsa and Lili will arrive in the city two weeks earlier, the second with her husband and son, Saul (two years old). She also lives in Tenerife, with the family. You save your partner's trips, from Madrid to the Canary Islands every Monday.

80 kilometers per hour

«They are very hardworking, with extraordinary potential. Lili is more methodical and Elsa has a greater capacity for improvisation, which comes in handy in some moments of the games, ”Sebastian explains with a slow verb. Occasionally he jumps into the arena to measure his pupils with another former player. Boys against girls. "It's getting harder and harder to win," he acknowledges. Lili Fernández, the couple's strongest physically, gets 80 kilometers per hour and moves 60 kilos in chest exercises in the gym. His mother is Croatian and Elsa's is an American. "They have chemistry, something fundamental," says their boss, coach, travel companion and the spectator who suffers the most.

As in tennis, coaching, communication between technicians and players is not allowed in beach volleyball. "It's frustrating. An outdated measure that I imagine will change, ”laments Menegozzo. Without words, only looks remain. And among the girls, secret gestures that must be done with discretion. Under the festive image of this sport, a rough game face, of mental challenge, emerges with rivals who shout the points to sink the opponent, body blockages that sometimes seek to harm and spies in the stands. «Beach volleyball is not just a party», closes Elsa.

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  • Canary Islands
  • Russia
  • Poland
  • Mexico
  • Madrid
  • Japan
  • Alicante
  • sports

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