The guitarist who will train with Ledecky and who understood the demands of swimming in Singapore

As a youngster, Andreu Roig, a biomechanic at the Sant Cugat CAR (Car of Sport) in Sant Cugat, went to the pool at CN Sant Andreu, the club he works with, and watched the younger players train. A boy swimming breaststroke who must have been "13 or 14" caught his eye. "This kid has something," he noted. That boy is now a 19-year-old man. His name is Nil Cadevall. He debuted at the World Championships in Singapore without much luck (he was eliminated in the heats of the 50 and 100 breaststroke and the 200 medley), although the important thing was his first experience. "I'm competing with top-level people; it's my first time. I think it's not bad, although I didn't finish entirely happy," commented the Arena swimmer .

A debut and a trip to the United States He swam the 50 and 100 breaststroke and 200 medley and in September he would study Engineering in the USA.

She failed to improve her performances, in line with the majority of Spanish swimming, but she hopes to make a breakthrough in the three years remaining until the Los Angeles Olympics, her first major goal. In September, she will study Mechanical Engineering at the University of Florida and join the Gators, where Katie Ledecky, Caeleb Dressel, and a group of Olympic medal-winning swimmers, all coached by Anthony Nesty, train . "I want to take advantage of this opportunity. The university is of a high caliber. I want to study and be able to compete at my best." Cadevall will be in one of those groups, though it is understood that she will not be in the professional division.

The Spanish technical directors define Cadevall as "a promising swimmer," who already holds the Spanish record for the 100m breaststroke and possesses qualities that could propel him to good European positions and into the world elite. At the trials, he broke the Spanish record for the 100m breaststroke and is poised to take them all. "He's very ambitious and consistent with his decision to achieve things. He's consistent and has clear priorities," explains Jessica Vall, the former 2015 world medalist, who trained with him and knows his entire process. "The key is for him to take advantage of the competitions, not just go there to gain experience," she added.

He has ambition and is consistent with the decision he has made, it is not easy.” Jessica Vall Former world medalist swimmer

“He's one of those swimmers who stood out at the end of the junior stage; it took a while. He's ambitious, hard-working, and very competitive. And mentally, he's very capable; he's very mature for his age. He's decisive,” explained África Zamorano, who has watched him grow and knows him well because “he's been in the Sant Andreu neighborhood all his life.”

Cadevall has a particular swimming skill that biomechanist Roig points out ("the best part is the closing stroke") and Vall elaborates on, who has been familiar with this style for a while and now teaches it at his training campus . "In the breaststroke, the opening and closing must be propulsive so as not to lose speed. But sometimes to close, you use force to lift yourself up, not to move forward. You have to work at it and it's hard, but he has this in his veins. His closing stroke is also propulsive," he comments, adding: "His style is unique, agile, electric, both in a 50 and a 2002."

Aside from the breaststroke, Cadevall also competed in the 200 medley at these World Championships, making him a swimmer capable of mastering all the records, although it is in the breaststroke where he can truly be competitive.

The CN Sant Andreu swimmer masters his studies and swimming, but he's also a proven guitarist. He attended music school from a young age and studied there for six years, although he had to drop out to focus on swimming. He continued playing in his spare time and now even has a music group: "It's called 'sis per quants.' This year we've done two concerts. We've formed a guitar group with friends who had studied with me, but also dropped out."

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And, just before traveling to Singapore, he gave one of them to his teammates from the Sant Andreu National University. He'll definitely be packing his guitar for Florida, too.