According to figures released by Spanish site Nataccion.com, swimming superstar, Mireia Belmonte is one of eleven Spanish swimmers who have been awarded Association of Olympic Sports (ADO) scholarship dollars to assist in preparations on her road to Rio.
A total of 24 athletes across all sporting disciplines will be given funds distributed from the entire ADO budget of 8.9 million euros. All told, Belmonte will have € 88,700 (approximately 97,000 USD) in ADO funds added to the €23,100 (approximately 25,200 USD) already received by the Higher Sports Council (CSD) earlier this year.
Belmonte is a two-time Olympic Games medalist, having earned 2012 Olympic silver in both the women’s 200m butterfly and 800m freestyle events. She most recently made headlines in the pool re-writing two new world short course records at the 2014 FINA Short Course World Championships; one in the 200m butterfly (1:59.61) and one in the 400m IM (4:19.86).
Other recognizable names on the ADO funding list include Melani Costa, former Unviersity of Florida Gator, who still holds several individual all-top ten times in that program’s history (200y free, 500y free, 1650 free). Costa is also a Spanish national record holder in the women’s 200m and 400m freestyle events, both which she set at the 2013 FINA World Championships.
Another Gator, recently-graduated Eduardo Solaeche-Gomez, was also awarded ADO funding to further his training on his quest for Rio. Solaeche-Gomez finished 7th overall at the 2015 NCAA men’s championships in the 200y IM and 10th in the 200m breaststroke. He is also the current men’s 200 IM Spanish record holder.
Jessica Vall is also a Spanish national record holder, on the books for her 100m breaststroke performance at the 2014 Spanish championships in the spring. Vall would then go on to sweep the 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke events at the December edition of the Spanish National Championships.
Belmonte, Costa, Vall, Garcia, Gomez and Peralta are all scheduled to compete at the first stop of the Mare Nostrum series in Canet coming up on June 6th and 7th.
The entire list of Spanish swimmers receiving ADO funding is as follows:
Mireia Belmonte: € 88,700 (~$97,000)
Melani Costa : € 65,700 (~$71,700)
Jessica Vall : € 41,300 (~$45,055)
Judit Ignacio : € 38,700 (~$42,200)
Duane da Rocha : € 34,000 (~$37,000)
Fatima Gallardo : € 28,700 (~$31,300)
Marina Garcia : € 25,800 (~$28,100)
Eduardo Solaeche-Gomez : € 24,000 (~$26,200)
Carlos Peralta : € 20,500 (~$22,400)
Patricia Castro : € 18,300 (~$20,000)
Beatriz Gomez : € 18,300 (~$20,000)
thanks braden. BTW, start lists for mare nostrum starting to trickle in (monaco)
http://www.natresult.com/live.php?fre=0&id=505201664431&lng=gbr&men=sta
It’s the Iron Lady show. Swim Mac (lochte, baker, micah) too. Strong Japanese contingent.
Good find, thanks!
Weirdo, thats right…Her father is her manager.
marley09, good question about Marina Garcia…It would be interesting to get into the argument.
good point Braden! I have heard that she is the bread winner in their family and her parents live off her earnings!
Who are you talking about?
Would accepting these funds from her(garcia) association impact her ncaa eligibility?
Braden, shots fired! that said, I don’t think i’ve ever heard of a swimmer losing eligibility b/c of receiving money. Do we all just turn a blind eye to this sort of stuff in swimming? Personally, I don’t care if Spain wants to distribute government money to their high level swimmers, in fact I applaud them for it. Just seems unfair that some high school swimmers decline $50 prize money to ensure amateur status.
i was talking about marina garcia w/ cal (sophomore) receiving $28,100.
OH! I’m sorry. I misread that. I took down my comments so as to avoid confusion – I thought you were referring to the headliner Belmonte.
Certain amounts of money are allowed to be accepted under NCAA guidelines. For example, USA Swimming who are part of the APA but still in the NCAA get $1,000 per month during the school year and $1,750 during the summer. Swimmers can also receive money to cover costs of training.
Missy Franklin was able to accept her gold medal money after 2012, and Joseph Schooling received a few hundred thousand dollars for his results last summer. Franklin’s money was very specifically allowed in a precisely-written NCAA rule. The only response we got from Texas’… Read more »