Out of the 127.5 million people from Mexico, only one woman swam in the 2024 Olympics.
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SIU student Celia Pulido, who hails from Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico, competed in the 100 meter backstroke after she punched her ticket to Paris at the Central American and Caribbean Championships.
To her, the chance to compete in the Olympics was a culmination of nearly a decade of training.
“I’ve been training for so long. It has been around 10 years since I started swimming in a competitive level. But it was whenever I got here to SIU when I started to train with the mindset of going to the Olympics,” Pulido said.
All of this work led her to Paris, where she swam on July 29 and was able to clock a 1:01.10, which was within half a second of her personal best and placed her 21st out of 40 swimmers.
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Head coach Geoff Hanson, who was in Paris supporting Pulido, had high praise for her performance.
“It was super special. It’s the highest level of our sport outside of college swimming, and Celia’s accomplished being at the highest level of college swimming, and so this is the highest level of international swimming. She did a great job and attacked her race, and took a big shot at what she was there to do,” Hanson said.
Even though it’s been several weeks since she competed, the thought that she really is an Olympian still hasn’t quite set it.
“I’m still in shock, I think,” Pulido said. “Some people tell me, ‘Oh, you’re an Olympian,’ and it doesn’t sound like 100%, you know. It’s something that’s very big for me right now, but you know, it’s what I am.”
A crucial part of being an Olympian is the ability to deal with the pressure that comes with competing on the world’s largest stage, which according to Pulido was the most difficult thing about the competition.
Pulido said, “I feel like it was handling the pressure and personal pressure that I put on me, and also the ones you get from the outside, even in messages or phone calls or people that are always texting you like, ‘Oh, what’s your goal?’ ‘Do you feel ready?’ ‘Do you feel prepared?’”
For Pulido, handling the pressure was often done through watching fellow swimmers’ races or through being outside in Paris and enjoying the city.
“The architecture is amazing. I love all the buildings, the streets. They are just beautiful,” Pulido said. “It was just really nice to see something different than I’m used to.”
Another enjoyable aspect of Paris for Pulido was “being surrounded by Olympic people”, including the three other swimmers from Team Mexico. However, meeting new athletes or greeting friends proved to be somewhat challenging.
“The (Olympic) village also was huge, and you couldn’t match schedules. People I knew had different schedules than me, so it was very hard,” Pulido said.
Making sure they were ready to compete was also a big factor in how Pulido and her fellow Olympians were able to spend their time in Paris.
“We were very focused on resting and eating and being pretty chill at the village, so we couldn’t hang out or things like that because we need to prepare for races,” Pulido said.
While much of the preparation may have been up to Pulido, she wasn’t alone on race day. Saluki coaches Hanson and Johno Fergusson were present, and athletic trainer Kelsey Forbord, who was already on a European trip, was also able to watch Pulido compete.
Pulido was the first Olympic swimmer from SIU since Pamela Benitez in 2012, and was Hanson’s first Olympian from SIU, though he had previously coached several while at other schools. Pulido was SIU’s 25th Olympian from the swim and dive program over its history.
How big of an event the Olympics are isn’t lost on Hanson, who was experiencing his second games as a coach, his first being in 2004 in Athens.
“It’s just a next level thing. It’s the biggest thing in the world that goes on for those 16 days, literally the biggest thing in the world,” Hanson said. “And then, being around people from all over the world, whether to go out to dinner, at the venue, or just kind of the grocery store, it’s people from all over the world, which is a pretty unique thing that just happens every four years.”
Another unique thing is having a current athlete being an Olympian, especially from a mid-major school like SIU. According to Hanson, Pulido’s success is a “validation of the things that we do, that we can produce Olympians here.”
“It can be done here… you don’t have to be at Alabama or Georgia or Texas to be at the highest level of our sport. You’ve got to find the right program that fits you and that will help you develop,” Hanson said.
When an athlete has the success that Pulido has, their story makes the rounds in the swimming world. Hanson said that there are several athletes that he and his staff are recruiting who have been talking about Pulido and her achievements.
Though it may be easy to, Pulido is not going to let her Olympic achievements change her mindset heading into her senior season.
“They’re two different things. Olympics is over, it’s in the past, and now I have something really big for me. I have new goals for this season, and it’s just to continue what I’m doing. I don’t think it changes anything. I’m gonna be the same person, I’m gonna be training the same, being the same person,” Pulido said.
Hanson is also excited about both Pulido’s post-Olympic future as well as the overall future of his program.
“We’ve got some big things we anticipate will happen this year with the program, both the men’s and women’s teams. Celia has goals too as an All-American, returning to move and see how high up she can get in the NCAA championships,” Hanson said. “We’re ready to go.”
Sports consultant Ryan Grieser can be reached at [email protected]. To stay up to date on all your southern Illinois news, be sure to follow The Daily Egyptian on Facebook and on X @dailyegyptian.
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