Yumping.- Hello Blanca, thank you very much for serving us again. On March 3 you got your last prize in the RS:X class in the bay of Cádiz... What has this triumph meant for you?
Blanca Manchón.- It has been a challenge of personal improvement for me, I had the flu the week before and I didn't know if I would be able to compete and it was essential since it was one of the selective tests for the Olympic Games. Winning was an incredible feeling and a great reward for the effort of the last few months.
You didn't have the necessary material or scholarships to go to the Raceboard World Cup in Salou… What prompted you to show up?
I needed to compete to get back in shape after my pregnancy and I decided to go with my family to have fun and with all the borrowed equipment and try to forget a little about everything I was experiencing due to the loss of my sponsors and the little support from the federation at that time.
You got sponsors thanks to your victory in the world championship…
Thanks to winning and appearing in the media again, I was able to show that I had returned to the competition and that I had one goal in mind, which was to go to the Tokyo 2020 games. My story with the abandonment of my sponsors from all these years of being a mother and the injustice that sports mothers experience. All this impact made the phone ring and new companies will join my sports project such as Instituto Español and Hero currently.
You just signed an agreement with the company Hero... What do you think of this company and your new sponsors?
This sponsorship with HERO has come at the best time and gives me a lot of peace of mind when preparing my Olympic campaign, I feel very identified with the brand and I think that is essential when you represent. I also have the support of INSTITUTO ESPAÑOL which from the beginning was involved in my project and believed in me as a sports mother. Last year I signed for the Puerto Sherry Nautical Club, which allows me to have that plus that I didn't have before.
What is your routine like now with Noah?
When we are at home while he is at daycare I do my training and work on my business, then I pick him up we eat we play and we take a much needed nap, in the afternoon the grandparents stay with him while I do the second session of the day, we arrive go home, shower, dinner and go to sleep. My husband is a coach and director of our training center so we basically complement each other with schedules. When there is a competition, Manuel, my husband, is the one who acts as super dad and travels with Noah around the world to go see me and be together.
Has your life changed with him?
More than my life, what has changed is the logistics and the way of doing things.
Is your training still the same or has it changed?
We have chosen to do more concentrated training sessions and blocks of training with greater intensity and quality. Before I could stay in the water for hours without worrying about anything else and now that is not feasible since I have the role of mother to fulfill, the logistics and the hours of rest have changed a lot, but when you find your own technique to carry everything at the same time you get used to it.
Is it possible to combine motherhood with being an elite athlete?
Being a mother and an Olympic athlete is possible. At first it seems hard and complicated, and without help it is practically unfeasible. You have to have things super clear and know that until you have results again, the road is long but everything comes. If there were more institutional support, and if you felt more supported by the Higher Sports Council, everything would be easier and returning to competition would be faster.
Have you had to choose between one or the other?
I thought about it many times, they put it on a plate for you to have to choose, but the desire to experience an Olympic campaign with my son got the better of me. But if I didn't have the family that I have that helps me so much and makes things easier for me it would be impossible or much harder.
What is your opinion about the inequality suffered by women in elite sports?
There are no maternity leaves or nothing like that, so one year pregnant and until you earn something again you are without earning any money. Elite athletes in Spain do not contribute, I have been in this since I was 12 years old and I have not contributed a single day in my life and I compete for Spain. We must modernize and give the same opportunities to men and women in their sporting career.
Did you ever think about throwing in the towel when you found out you were pregnant?
The pregnancy was sought, but what happened to me afterwards was obviously something to think about. What happens is that the years to be a mother coincide with the best years of a woman's sports career: between 26 and 35 any girl is at her peak, so stopping to be a mother without knowing how you are going to come back or if You will have support, it is an adventure. I understand that many retire because there is a lot of uncertainty and the view they have is that in sport you have to disappear or hide to be a mother.
What do you think about the anti-pregnancy clauses imposed on some female athletes?
I have seen them especially in team sports, but little by little they are disappearing. We have already reached a point where the athletes themselves see it as normal, they assume that if they are going to be mothers they have to disappear, that it is not possible any other way, and yes it is. The thing is that if any woman feels social pressure to recover after childbirth, in sports this pressure is much greater.
Do you think you have improved in the sporting field after having Noah?
Completely. I feel better than ever, with more capacity for suffering and more strength. Being a mother gives you a point of maturity and organization on a mental level that helps a lot. The first few months are very frustrating until you find your physical fitness and your new habits with the child, the ones that really work for you, but after that you are capable of anything. You also learn a lot to put things into perspective, to have your feet on the ground and value your lifestyle more.
Do you think that more visibility should be given to the problems that female athletes have when it comes to getting pregnant?
We have to be modern and know that this problem exists and change the way we help a little so that the help is really effective. There are many, many girls who have the same problem as me and have not said anything. I was like them. At first I saw it as normal to lose sponsors when I was going to give birth, but then I realized that it was very hard. It's like being fired from any job, reportable, nothing like that, so one year pregnant and until you earn something again you are without earning any money. Elite athletes in Spain do not contribute, I have been in this since I was 12 years old and I have not contributed a single day in my life and I compete for Spain. We must modernize and give the same opportunities to men and women in their sporting career.
Did you ever think about throwing in the towel when you found out you were pregnant?
The pregnancy was sought, but what happened to me afterwards was obviously something to think about. What happens is that the years to be a mother coincide with the best years of a woman's sports career: between 26 and 35 any girl is at her peak, so stopping to be a mother without knowing how you are going to come back or if You will have support, it is an adventure. I understand that many retire because there is a lot of uncertainty and the view they have is that in sport you have to disappear or hide to be a mother.
What do you think about the anti-pregnancy clauses imposed on some female athletes?
I have seen them especially in team sports, but little by little they are disappearing. We have already reached a point where the athletes themselves see it as normal, they assume that if they are going to be mothers they have to disappear, that it is not possible any other way, and yes it is. The thing is that if any woman feels social pressure to recover after childbirth, in sports this pressure is much greater.
Do you think you have improved in the sporting field after having Noah?
Completely. I feel better than ever, with more capacity for suffering and more strength. Being a mother gives you a point of maturity and organization on a mental level that helps a lot. The first few months are very frustrating until you find your physical fitness and your new habits with the child, the ones that really work for you, but after that you are capable of anything. You also learn a lot to put things into perspective, to have your feet on the ground and value your lifestyle more.
Do you think that more visibility should be given to the problems that female athletes have when it comes to getting pregnant?
We have to be modern and know that this problem exists and change the way we help a little so that the help is really effective. There are many, many girls who have the same problem as me and have not said anything. I was like them. At first I saw it as normal to lose sponsors when I was going to give birth, but then I realized that it was very hard. It's like being fired from any job, reportable,
