“Fear never goes away”

When Eugenia De Armas You have to explain what is the most beautiful thing about wakeboardhe doesn’t doubt it: “The adrenaline it generates in you.” The 25-year-old from Buenos Aires knows what she is talking about because she has lived on a board since she was little. She learned to ski when she was just 5 years old and that discipline of water skiing ended up becoming the center of her life and took her to travel the world. His last great adventure was in Xiang LakeChina, where She won her second world title and became the first woman in history to win two crowns in that specialty..

“I’m happy. I had said before the World Cup that statistically there was no chance of winning it, because there were no two-time world champion women. But also because it was the last competition of an incredible year and I was tired of competing literally every month. I was destroyed mentally and physically. In the end I gave everything and this season finale came out,” he says in a chat with Clarion days after the victory.

De Armas repeated the celebration from two years ago in Italia and climbed to a world podium for the third time, having been third in 2019. Her participation in the Chinese competition did not start well and was close to being left out of the semifinals. But recovered in time to make history, with that “take on the world” mentality with which he approaches each tournament. Because although in her daily life Eugenia is pure friendliness and smiles, when she jumps into the water she is extremely competitive.

“I always, always, always say that anything can happen. I am aware of that. But I go into the water in full mode. ‘I am a beast and I am going to break it’“, he acknowledges.

“Something I love about wake It is about constantly improving, in competitions, in training and mentally. My sister (Victoria, also a skier and one of the people Eugenia relies on the most.) told me that now I am putting up the barrier. I am making the story -he maintains-. And that motivates me a lot and makes me able to turn the page quickly after winning the world title.”

To listen to De Armas speak is to understand that although the wakeboard It is an extremely physically demanding sport, in which the boats go at 37 kilometers per hour while the athletes do pirouettes and challenge speed (the best can walk at 40), The head also plays a very important role.

-How do you maintain concentration and prevent adrenaline from dominating you to be in control of your movements?

-I try to transform that emotion and nerves into the desire to ski. When I’m nervous, I don’t say: ‘I’m nervous’I say: ‘I really want to ski. I’m excited to ski’. I try to trick my brain and concentrate on the fact that what I am going to do is because I feel like it and that everything is going to turn out well because I have been training and I am prepared to do it. It’s up to me and I want that to happen. I try to channel it that way.

-You live with the risk of injuring or harming yourself. Do you keep it in mind every time you jump into the water?

-I learned that fear never goes away. Regardless of whether you generate a lot of confidence, fear will always be there, but the body still moves with fear. It’s a mental hurdle and once you try it, you say: ‘Well, it’s okay’. The gym helps me a lot to feel confident to do tricks. Also, the things that are scary, the new tricks that I start training, are all the sum of other tricks. Then you can divide them and go to the bases, to build trust. Am I afraid of a backflip with a 360 degree turn? Well, I’m going to start practicing the somersault alone; then the 360 ​​with only rotation; and so I build confidence until at some point I will make it complete.

-When you are spinning in the air, can you become disoriented?

-Yes, come in. In reality, the first times you start spinning you don’t locate yourself in time and space. That’s what the training we do on the trampoline is very useful for. We put a handlebar tied to a tree or whatever and we train that movement there first, because the impact is less and there is less chance of getting hurt. And once you have the movement trained, you transfer it to the water. It happened to me to get lost. And you fall like a bag of potatoes into water (laughs). But you get up and continue. Very rarely does that blow of disorientation hurt very much. And usually when you are trying something new you have a coach or someone driving who takes care of you, they slow you down a little and you go from 40 kilometers per hour to 20. And it is something else.

-What do you feel when you are on the board?

-It’s difficult to explain. The adrenaline generated by wake For me it is the most beautiful thing there is. There are times when my mom asks me: ‘What are you thinking?’ And I tell him that I’m not thinking about anything. There comes a point where the body moves on its own. He has muscle memory. So it’s a constant enjoyment.

-Training and repetition over and over again are essential…

-Exactly. The pass that I did in the World Cup, the Pan American and in Australia I have been doing almost daily. It is important because then, even if you are unfocused or the conditions are a little strange, the muscle memory is there. You give it continuity and it comes out of memory.

-How long does it take you to perfect a pass like the one in the World Cup?

-It depends on how much is left until a competition. Sometimes I have three days, I put all my effort into it and I train it with everything in three days. But the best thing is to train it for a week without pressure, without rushing. A week is a good number. That’s with the tricks I have at this stage of my career. Before, when they were all new tricks, which disoriented me a little, I was there for a month.

-Just as you train in the gym and in the water, do you train mentally?

-In the competitions. As a girl I went to a gym near CENARD and practiced coordination a lot. I even had a sports psychologist and everything. That helped me a lot so that today I can handle myself the way I handle myself in competitions. But I don’t continue doing it. I did it as a girl, I grabbed that, I said thank you very much and I left. (laughs)

-Don’t you work with a psychologist?

-You should have a sports psychologist. It’s something I always wanted because I know it’s key, but I was never able to give it continuity. Luckily I have people around me who practice this sport and understand perfectly how I feel and can put themselves in my shoes. So, for now I use the people I love as a psychologist. My sister, for example, and the boys at team Argentina (the selected one), with whom we get along very well.

Eugenia was born in Núñezbut he grew up in Escobar. Today that city of Buenos Aires is one of the places that feels like home. The other is Tequesquitengoa town located two hours from the City of Mexicocountry where her boyfriend was born Miguel Menendezalso a skier.

“Although I spend eight months of the year traveling, Escobar and Teques are my two places in the world. The first, because it reminds me of barbecues and there is nothing more beautiful than the river at Escobar. And the second because it is my second home, my second base. Before I went to Orlando, the Mecca of the wakeboardcon Victoria. But in the quarantine Covidshe decided to stay in Argentina and I had to look for another option. My boyfriend asked me why I didn’t go to Mexico with him. And it was a good decision,” explains De Armas.

-How is your life there?

-Very calm. I’m on a lake, in the middle of the jungle, everything green, I love it. It means getting up, doing yoga, having a cup of coffee… From Wednesday to Sunday you can ski, so on those days I ski. On Monday and Tuesday, to the gym. The truth is that it is like a spiritual retreat, very calm but without stopping. We live a super athletic, super sporty life. We go running, riding a bike, it’s like a daily concentration. We keep training and I keep putting him in.

-At this time of year, yes. In October or November I already want a barbecue from my dad or some mate from my mom. I miss getting up in the morning and them working in the house. computer. At the end of November I’m already facing my return. Because December 5th is my dad’s birthday and I have to be there no matter what. I can’t miss it.

Since he began representing Argentina internationally in 2014, De Armas has not tired of celebrating achievements, some of which are historic.

He climbed to the top of the podium in the South American Games of Cochabamba 2018 and of Assumption 2022. In 2018 he successfully completed a double turn (back roll) in the boat mode and became the first woman in history to achieve that highly difficult pirouette. Today she is still the only one to achieve it.

In the Games of Lima 2019 She won the gold and became the first Pan-American champion of her discipline, who debuted in that edition at the highest event in American sports. And last year he repeated the celebration in Santiago 2023.

And two weeks ago, in China, he won his second world crown in a championship in which he did not start well. Because it was last in its heatbut she reacted in time, won her repechage series, came first in the semis and ended up winning the final.

“I had a great year, motivated and confident, with everything. I had won the Pan American Championship the week before and had placed second in Australia the week before that. And suddenly the first two days I was almost out of the semi-final. It was like a pretty hard crash. Luckily I was with him team Argentina, Victoriathe twins Ulf y Kai Ditch y Santino Robuschi. Talking to them to help me concentrate, to have a cool mind again, was key. I had to start from scratch. Grab me off the floor, get up. And that’s why it was also very important to me,” he recalls.

-You are a two-time Pan American and world champion. Are you aware of what that means for Argentine sports?

-It is a huge pride. These are things that I still don’t believe. I don’t feel like they were easy or that I deserve them. A lot of work went into everything. But the fact that the Argentine flag is at the top is what fills me with the most pride.

-Would you like your sport to become Olympic one day so that you could perhaps have the pleasure of representing the country in the Games?

-The way things are going, I don’t think I’ll be able to compete in the Games, because hopefully it would be in eight years. But if he wakeboard becomes an Olympian, my idea is to be there, one hundred percent, whether as a coach, technical director or tournament judge. Anyway, I’ll be there.

-Does that mean you don’t see yourself skiing for many more years?

-There are people who retire at 25. But I have friends who are 42 who still compete. So it depends on how much you want it and how much your body gives you. I’m going to try to be there as much as I can. And when my body doesn’t give me more to perform at a professional level, I’ll be in the amateur. I don’t mind.

Eugenia lives from wakeboarding. In addition to the competitions of the International Water Ski and Wakeboard Federation in which he represents Argentina, such as the World Cup, he has competed since 2016 in the PAHsthe United States association, as a professional skier of Red Bull.

“That’s where the sponsors and the money are,” he explains. He teaches his sport in Mexico and Argentina, sometimes participating in clinics and events organized by his sponsors – such as Liquid Forceboard manufacturer – in the United States. And if you have to plan for the future, don’t hesitate.

“At one time I studied Journalism for half a year and I would like to return to it at some point. But I imagine life after professionalism related to sports,” he comments.

“I am an international judge, both in boat and board. I have three stars and my plan is, when I retire, to get the other two stars that I am missing and continue in the sport – she warns -. I see myself being an international judge, coach of the Argentine team or coach somewhere else in the world. I always see myself connected to the table.