- Alvaro, on the eve of the World Cup, we were lucky to have a full-scale interview with you. Could you, first of all, tell our readers about your current position at CMAS?

Good afternoon, yes, of course… Since 2015, I have been the secretary of the CMAS technical commission for finswimming. In my opinion, membership in this commission is extremely important for me, since it is this group of people who is responsible for the rules of finswimming and their changes. Working here, I hope that we can create rules that improve and develop our wonderful sport.

- What brought you to our sport? And how did the hobby grow into a professional activity?

I was first introduced to underwater swimming by my uncle, who was a diver. At a young age, he brought me to the Barracuda Diving Club, which was the beginning of my acquaintance with the underwater sports industry. I explored many CMAS disciplines, but after a few years of competition I decided to focus on finswimming. At the end of my sports career, I began to doubt many things that did not work properly in our federation, so I decided to continue my activities no longer as an athlete, but as a representative of the federation.

During my sports career, I had a chance to swim almost all distances in competitions. In my time, Colombia was a country where finswimming was still developing, and I became the first Colombian swimmer to reach the finals of the World Championships and the finals of other major competitions.

As for working as a coach, I have practically no time for this. However, I try my best to support the head coach of our country and help my brother* with his sports process. To be honest, I get a lot more nervous when I see competitions from the side than when I was a swimmer myself. I have always been very calm and focused during competitions, but now when I see my brother and my friends swimming in the finals of international competitions, I feel a lot of stress!

*Juan Fernando Ocampo Lozada. 200meters surface 3time world champion. Actual world record holder.

- What influenced your decision to become a CMAS delegate? And what attracts you the most in this activity?

I think it's just a coincidence. While still an athlete, I did not see myself as an administrative or technical worker for either my country's federation or a world confederation. But over time, I noticed more and more that our federation lacks a strategy for setting priorities, taking into account the desire of the athletes themselves. Feeling that this applies to almost every athlete in the federation, I eventually contacted the national federation, and then the world confederation, hoping to make a feasible contribution to our sport.
I find that being a lawyer by training and having a master's degree in international sports law, in addition to being an athlete in the past, gives me a pretty clear idea of ​​the strengths and weaknesses of our sport.

- How would you describe your attitude to underwater sports? How does it differ from other sports and how would you argue for the parents of young athletes, the need to try swimming with fins?

Well, as I said in my recent talk, I have always believed that we humans originated from the sea, so we are always looking for this togetherness, and feel so identified with water sports, and especially with underwater sports such as our. The connection we have with the water, in addition to the speed and propulsion we gain from using fins, is what makes our sport unique. Definitely, when I can, I recommend it to all people who are interested in sports or just looking for fun.

- The Colombian national team is distinguished by very strong athletes. Could you share some of the secrets of the training process?

The Colombian national team often holds training camps in the mountains, at high altitude. This practice is often used by athletes of various sports.

- Tell us about the places in Colombia where you conduct such training? What is the height there? And how difficult (or easy) is it for athletes to adapt to such conditions? How long do mountain camps last?

The first thing to understand is that in Colombia there are cities with different locations, for example, Cali is at 900m above sea level, and Bogota is at 2800m, as you can see, we have a variety of altitudes for training. Our athletes believe that working at different heights has a positive effect on their results. In, for example, this year we held a gathering in the city of Manizales at an altitude of 2200 m above sea level.

- What other types of sports activities would you, as a coach, recommend adding to the training of underwater athletes? What positively influences their results?

I believe that it is important to do other sports in addition to swimming, not only for physical benefits, but also for mental development. It is very important that athletes engage in a variety of activities that are fun and interesting. For example, the gym is an integral part of our preparation, and I personally think that running, cycling and ice skating are interesting options to diversify your workout routine.

- Colombia is about to host the long-awaited World Finswimming Championships. Tell us about your feelings when the competition is so close?

The World Championship was supposed to take place back in 2011, but was cancelled. Despite the 2013 World Games and the 2021 World Open Water Championships, this is a kind of revenge for us.

- Please tell me when FEDECAS won this application? How long did it take to prepare? And what is the most difficult thing in organizing a start of this level?

In 2015, we started this preparation process in the National Federation, we requested the possibility of hosting the World Championships in Colombia, because we consider it very important that CMAS supports fin swimming in the Americas, because we need to develop it, as in Europe, so that our sport better known and much more competitive worldwide.

- To date, how many countries have confirmed participation?

At the moment we have about 25 countries confirmed and we are waiting for at least 5 more.

- Are there any problems with the restrictions related to the COVID-19 virus in Colombia now? And how difficult is the preparation due to the need for pandemic-related preventive measures?

Pandemic-related restrictions have now been loosened and have been relaxed over the past few months. This will allow us to better prepare and hold competitions at a higher level compared to the 2021 World Open Water Championships. We hope that athletes will have many records in these competitions.

- The championship will be held in the outdoor pool "HERNANDO BOTERO OBYRNE". How comfortable is the temperature in July in Cali? What to expect and how to prepare for athletes from less hot regions?

As you know, Colombia has the same temperature throughout the year, the difference in temperature between one city and another depends on the altitude at which the city is located. Cali has a very comfortable temperature all year round and we are sure that athletes from other countries will have a lot of fun competing in the outdoor pool.
It usually doesn't rain in July, but in case it rains during the competition, the pool has a roof to protect athletes and spectators. In addition, the pool is already known to some of the athletes who participated in the 2013 World Games.

- There are only a few days left before the start, for you, as one of the leaders of the organizational headquarters of the competition, is everything going on as usual or is there already a "full immersion" effect when the organizer's work takes 24 hours a day?

Well, we are currently trying to arrange everything so that we are ready in the first week of July, considering that many countries are going to come to Cali right after the World Games. Most likely, we have sports teams that will arrive in our city on July 10th. The idea is to have everything ready so they can practice in the pool in the days leading up to the competition.

Finally, I want to thank you for the opportunity to make this sport a little more known from a Colombian point of view. And unfortunately, taking into account the decision of CMAS, I am sorry that we will not be able to count on the participation of the athletes of the Russian national team, who for many years have been the standard of our sport.

High altitude training lasts 21 days, which is usually the recommended amount of time for this type of training. I personally find it useful, especially for athletes who compete in long and semi-long distances, but also the fact that the strongest athletes in the country are in the same training camp makes training much more intense, productive and interesting. In addition, such events are an excellent opportunity for team building and raising the spirits of athletes.

During my sports career, I had a chance to swim almost all distances in competitions. In my time, Colombia was a country where finswimming was still developing, and I became the first Colombian swimmer to reach the finals of the World Championships and the finals of other major competitions. At the beginning of my career, I only swam sprints, but I ended up doing immersions. In retrospect, I can say that I have come a long way, having tried almost all the distances in our sport, and it was really cool!

At the beginning of my career, I only swam sprints, but I ended up doing immersions. In retrospect, I can say that I have come a long way, having tried almost all the distances in our sport, and it was really cool!

As for working as a coach, I have practically no time for this. However, I try my best to support the head coach of our country and help my brother* with his sports process. To be honest, I get a lot more nervous when I see competitions from the side than when I was a swimmer myself. I have always been very calm and focused during competitions, but now when I see my brother and my friends swimming in the finals of international competitions, I feel a lot of stress!

*Juan Fernando Ocampo Lozada. 200meters surface 3time world champion. Actual world record holder.

- What influenced your decision to become a CMAS delegate? And what attracts you the most in this activity?

I think it's just a coincidence. While still an athlete, I did not see myself as an administrative or technical worker for either my country's federation or a world confederation. But over time, I noticed more and more that our federation lacks a strategy for setting priorities, taking into account the desire of the athletes themselves. Feeling that this applies to almost every athlete in the federation, I eventually contacted the national federation, and then the world confederation, hoping to make a feasible contribution to our sport.
I find that being a lawyer by training and having a master's degree in international sports law, in addition to being an athlete in the past, gives me a pretty clear idea of ​​the strengths and weaknesses of our sport.

- How would you describe your attitude to underwater sports? How does it differ from other sports and how would you argue for the parents of young athletes, the need to try swimming with fins?

Well, as I said in my recent talk, I have always believed that we humans originated from the sea, so we are always looking for this togetherness, and feel so identified with water sports, and especially with underwater sports such as our. The connection we have with the water, in addition to the speed and propulsion we gain from using fins, is what makes our sport unique. Definitely, when I can, I recommend it to all people who are interested in sports or just looking for fun.

As you know, Colombia has the same temperature throughout the year, the difference in temperature between one city and another depends on the altitude at which the city is located. Cali has a very comfortable temperature all year round and we are sure that athletes from other countries will have a lot of fun competing in the outdoor pool. It usually doesn't rain in July, but in case it rains during the competition, the pool has a roof to protect athletes and spectators. In addition, the pool is already known to some of the athletes who participated in the 2013 World Games.

- There are only a few days left before the start, for you, as one of the leaders of the organizational headquarters of the competition, is everything going on as usual or is there already a "full immersion" effect when the organizer's work takes 24 hours a day?

Well, we are currently trying to arrange everything so that we are ready in the first week of July, considering that many countries are going to come to Cali right after the World Games. Most likely, we have sports teams that will arrive in our city on July 10th. The idea is to have everything ready so they can practice in the pool in the days leading up to the competition.

- What other types of sports activities would you, as a coach, recommend adding to the training of underwater athletes? What positively influences their results?

I believe that it is important to do other sports in addition to swimming, not only for physical benefits, but also for mental development. It is very important that athletes engage in a variety of activities that are fun and interesting. For example, the gym is an integral part of our

preparation, and I personally think that running, cycling and ice skating are interesting options to diversify your workout routine.

- The Colombian national team is distinguished by very strong athletes. Could you share some of the secrets of the training process?

The Colombian national team often holds training camps in the mountains, at high altitude. This practice is often used by athletes of various sports.

- Tell us about the places in Colombia where you conduct such training? What is the height there? And how difficult (or easy) is it for athletes to adapt to such conditions? How long do mountain camps last?

The first thing to understand is that in Colombia there are cities with different locations, for example, Cali is at 900m above sea level, and Bogota is at 2800m, as you can see, we have a variety of altitudes for training. Our athletes believe that working at different heights has a positive effect on their results. In, for example, this year we held a gathering in the city of Manizales at an altitude of 2200 m above sea level.

High altitude training lasts 21 days, which is usually the recommended amount of time for this type of training. I personally find it useful, especially for athletes who compete in long and semi-long distances, but also the fact that the strongest athletes in the country are in the same training camp makes training much more intense, productive and

interesting. In addition, such events are an excellent opportunity for team building and raising the spirits of athletes.

Voda.Team's first big interview with Alvaro Lozado, Vice President of the Colombian Underwater Sports Federation. On the eve of the 2022 World Cup, we learned about the preparation of the Colombian team and the organization of the competition, and also heard the story of a prominent athlete and figure in CMAS.