Dubai: At the end of two days of swimming, Spain is the surprising challenger to world champions USA at the tenth Fina World Swimming Championships (25m) being held at the Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Sports Complex.
Take nothing away from the European nation, but they are being led by the 20-year-old Mireia Belmonte who has won two gold and silver so far to put Spain second in the tally with a total five medals.
The US is at the top of the table with four gold, one silver and two bronze medals, followed by a fast-improving Russia with three gold and a couple of silvers leaving Spain to take the overall third place with five medals and clear of the otherwise competitive Australian squad who are in a disappointing seventh overall with just two silver medals as of Thursday.
Spanish conquest
Right there in the middle of the Spanish conquest at these championships, Belmonte has been the one to look out for here given the scant history for swimming in Spain. During the 2000s, Spanish swimmer Gemma Mengual had heralded a series of both individual and team medals for Spain in all the major international events in synchronised swimming. Mengual had also won a silver at the 2008 Beijing Games.
"I want to take it one race at a time," Belmonte said parrying away questions on her expectations in Dubai.
Belmonte won gold in the women's 200m butterfly and the 400m individual medley on the opening day and then made it a special occasion for the Spaniards after she joined teammate Erika Garcia on the podium in the 800m freestyle final on Thursday.
Earlier in the evening of the second day, Aschwin Faber Wildeboer had added a bronze after finishing third behind Russia's Stanislav Donets and Frenchman Camille Lacourt respectively in the men's 100m backstroke.
"I would rather want to wait and see how things go from one race to another," she added.
Born and bred in Barcelona, Belmonte was the junior world champion in 2006 in 400m freestyle and 400m medley and the Junior European Champion in 200m freestyle and 400m individual medley.
In 2007, she achieved the second place in 400m individual medley at the European Short Course Championships just behind Italy's Alessia Filippi. She got better the following year winning the women's 200m individual medley breaking the championships record at the 2008 European Long Course Championships.
