If anyone asks me what my greatest dream has always been, the answer is simple and immediate: competitive swimming.
It all started in 1972. I was 11 years old, living in Luanda, and got completely hypnotized watching the legendary Mark Spitz butterfly swimming at the Munich Olympic Games. I looked at that, fascinated, thinking: "I wish I could swim like that." My great role model was right there, and from that moment on, competitive swimming — particularly the butterfly stroke — became my lifelong passion.
But real life got in the way and did not allow me to pursue that dream the way I wanted. In late 1974, when I returned to Azeitão, I found an impoverished country, with no heated swimming pools where I lived (Azeitão) and studied (Setúbal). Without an indoor pool, it was impossible to properly train swimming between October and April. To stay in shape during the colder months, when swimming wasn't possible, I ran; and when I got tired of running, I cycled to Figueirinha beach, where I satisfied my longing for the water by swimming in the sea until I was "freezing" (10 to 15 minutes).
Without knowing it, life was charting an alternative path for me.
I represented SFUAP's swimming team from 1976 to 1979. In 1979, I went to study at the Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) and began training swimming year-round at the IST pool, while competing for Sporting. In 1981, I focused on finishing my degree and ended up quitting competitive swimming to dedicate myself fully to studies. But the passion for sport was still there: I was already commuting by bicycle between home (in Azeitão) and IST (in Lisbon); on top of that, I ran almost daily in Azeitão and, from time to time, satisfied my craving for the water by swimming a few laps in the IST pool and in the sea at Figueirinha.
And it was precisely there, in 1984, at the IST pool, that I came across Paulo Cavaleiro, who challenged me:
"What you'd really enjoy is doing a Triathlon! Did you know the first one in Portugal is happening this summer, in Peniche?"
I looked at him, not quite understanding a word:
"Tri-what? Sounds like you said Theater?"
"TRI-A-THLON. Swim, bike, and run. You are clearly well-adapted to all three disciplines. It would be a great experience for you."
That was when I realized that, as much as my original dream was pure swimming, the past few years had naturally led me toward this new sport.
I accepted the challenge, and on August 15th, 1984, there I was in Peniche, with my swimming goggles, a heavy, old utility bike (pasteleira), and some basic running shoes ready to try out Portugal's first triathlon.
The result was an adventure that was simultaneously exciting, grueling, and fun. I came out of the water frozen stiff, threw myself onto the bicycle, suffered on the coastal climbs dragging the pasteleira, before blowing up running along those same slopes and through town.
I crossed the finish line shattered, but very enthusiastic and happy with the outcome. My childhood dream of butterfly swimming and Mark Spitz never disappeared, but I had found a new motivation to enjoy competing in a sport as challenging and exciting as triathlon. My swimming gained two wheels and a pair of running shoes, and I continued to enjoy competing for a few more years.