LIMA, August 1, 2019 - Kyra Hoevertsz is “one happy girl”. She granted this interview with a big smile on her face. The same big smile she had on during competition and in the subsequent training for the final routine next Wednesday. The slogan of Aruba is "one happy island". The Arubans carry this everywhere and Kyra is no exception. “The slogan is literal. We are happy, the Aruban people are good people.” she says proudly.
Part of the rules and elements to be scored during the artistic swimming competition is the artistic impression; an aspect that is defined, among other things, by the gestures during the presentation. But Kyra's smile isn't fake, it's natural because she lives one more chance to call herself Aruba.
She knows that she is fortunate to have the opportunity to represent her country, as she and eight other athletes make up the delegation of the Caribbean island during the XVIII Pan American Games Lima 2019.
Aruba is one of the countries that have, in the history of the Pan American Games, never stood on the podium; but Kyra and her pair Abigail De Veer, were not despaired that they didn’t get a medal. On the contrary, they fulfilled their objective, which was to finish seventh in the technical test and surpass Chile - the Chilean rivals had finished above the happy pair in the recent FINA World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea. “The most important thing today was to enjoy. Let's have fun, let's smile, let's have a good time. We are here because we want, not because we are obligated,” says Kyra who lives in the world of swimming alongside her whole family. Her mother and aunt participated in the Aruba team during the Los Angeles 1984 Olympics.
At age seven, Kyra decided to leave swimming and try "synchronized swimming," as the sport was known before the change in name implemented by the International Swimming Federation (FINA). Since then, she has dedicated 14 years of his life to what she is passionate about today and for which she wants to continue working. “I am very young for artistic swimming,” says Kyra. She is also young to have already completed a marketing course in the United States and, as if that was not enough, with honors and in three years, one less than scheduled.
At the moment she has to decide if she would continue training or choose to study for a master's degree, although everything indicates that the balance leans towards the “synchro”. "I have finished the race, now I can swim all day if I want," she says, but she also knows that if she wants to get to an Olympic game, she must train almost 100%. According to her, now it is not enough for them to go to Tokyo 2020 due to the high level that the 35 countries competing in the qualifying tournament will have next April. That is why they describe the Pan American Games as one of the most important tournaments, where they can show themselves and make everyone know what Aruba has to give in future competitions. The real objective is Paris 2024. “We are two athletes from Aruba who came here and we have the opportunity to show them what Aruba is,” she compliments.
The pair enters into action with the same routine for the competition. The first is the hair. They comb it and put jello to prevent some hair from leaving its place. Then there is makeup and food and then they continue with the flexibility routine. "The dry routine is done to focus mentally, to connect," she says referring to the review of the choreography, but out of the water. Already in the warming of technical routine they focus on the minimum elements that they must present (in the duet there are five) and then, they make a last complete review before competing.
The tranquility for the artistic swimming duet is transmitted by their coach Leslie Sproule, a Canadian who differs from other energetic and rigid instructors. Perhaps because there is a minimum margin of error between presentations, a large majority usually shows a lot of demand with their athletes, but, on the contrary, Leslie works a lot on the mental aspect of Kyra and Abigail. The Aruban Hoevertsz tells us that Leslie knows that they can improve if they want to. She tells them, "I won't force you because I am not going to anything". That doesn't help, it just makes athletes more tense, more nervous. And this does not go with the character of any.
Kyra wants to leave a mark and proudly carries the name of her country on the back of her uniform. I could represent Holland, because it also has the passport of this nation, but no. She always wants to be Aruba, the island where everyone is a friend. "I want to represent my island, my Aruba," she says. Why? We ask. "Because it's Aruba," she told us.
