'JUANCITO' RECEIVES RAPTUROUS OVATION AT AQUATIC CENTER

Although the sports competition result was not the best, Peruvian Para swimmer Juan Leónleft with a feeling of contentment. Juancito’s main goal in his first-ever participation in the Parapan American Games was to improve his record in 400m freestyle, S7 class, and he managed to do it.

León had prepared for this moment since two years ago. He was excited to see the grandstands full of spectators, including some of his relatives and neighbors. This motivated him to achieve a record of 6:15:22. His effort paid off with the rapturous applause by those present in the VIDENA Aquatics Center.

“It is not easy to improve my personal record by 23 seconds. It takes more time to achieve this goal. Thanks to my demanding training by my coach Fernando Cuadros, I expect to get a better record so that I can earn a quota place at Tokyo 2020. I am going to push myself to the limit in order to keep representing my country in international competitions,” said León. Juancito León expected to get a medal at the Lima 2019 Parapan American Games. 

The Para swimmer had never competed in a similar event before. This is why he believes that this event will be a turning point in his sporting career.

“The support of all these people moved me. The ovation that I received from people, before and after the event, is an image that my family and I will treasure forever. I also saw some neighbors from my Ventanilla neighborhoods, but I had to stay focused. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart,” 'Juancito' said.