In August 2016, coinciding with the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, the edition dealt with ‘the difficult economic feat of getting a medal for a Mexican’, and explained the lack of support for elite sport in the country – beyond football— and the problems that federations face due to lack of resources.
Pacheco himself suffered it when he achieved his greatest success: that same year he won gold in the 3-meter individual springboard event of the Diving World Cup held in Rio de Janeiro, but he could not hear the Mexican anthem or go out with a national team jersey. Mexico was sanctioned by the International Swimming Federation (FINA), He had no money to do it. For this reason, at the top of the podium, Rommel Pacheco appeared with a Popeye shirt.
“I like Popeye, I have several T-shirts of him, my car keychain is Popeye. I have always liked him. I watched the cartoon as a child, I liked that he was strong, healthy, and I have always been attracted to the idea that he cares and protect Olivia, “he explains.
In this interview, conducted shortly after this event, Today, on the occasion of the announcement of his retirement, we recover that encounter.
How were your beginnings?
I started doing sports at a very young age. My first sport was swimming at the age of three. Then I joined a club and played various sports, such as soccer, basketball, chess, baseball. And among them, the nailed ones. After having tried everything, what I liked the most was the diving, and at the age of seven I began to practice them more seriously. From there the years went by, I was creating an idea and a dream of going to the Olympic Games to compete.
I had to come here to Mexico City when I was 11 years old, away from my family, to be focused on it. In Mérida I did not have a coach or adequate facilities, and if I wanted to pursue my dream and not only do it as a hobby, but also to go to the Olympic Games, I had to come here to Mexico City. So, I came when I was 11 years old, my family stayed in Mérida, and that’s how my career developed: I was competing and winning in competitions of my category, children and youth, then in Central American and Pan American tournaments, world championships. .. Until today. I have been in this sport for more than two decades, very happy and satisfied with all the results I have had.
How did you pay for your career? Did you have scholarships or supports?
There was a talent project that I was part of from a very young age. Being part of the first places at the national level, in my category you were awarded a small scholarship. My first scholarship was about 10 years old, and it was around 300 or 500 pesos a month. They gave you a backpack and a shirt. Mainly, it was something symbolic. When I started doing sports, it was never thinking about money. It was because I liked it, and despite the fact that the scholarship was very little, I was very happy because it was something that I earned with my effort, it was something mine. Then the scholarships were increasing according to the level and the result that was obtaining.
How does this work when you start to compete professionally?
Even though we train daily, we are still considered amateurs. We do not enter as professionals. Because the Olympic sport is amateur, that is, it is not a hobby, but its specific name is amateur, it is like the Olympic boxing. And we ourselves do not receive … it is not a salary, but a scholarship from the Conade (National Commission for Physical Culture and Sports). And within Conade there is an elite program called CIMA, and those of us who have the best results belong to it. There you are tabulated according to your world ranking, which varies according to your results each year. They set goals for you and you have to meet them. If you do not meet them, lower your scholarship, and if you exceed them, it can increase. One of my goals, for example, was the result in the World Cup. I had to be in the top six, and I was gold, so there I surpassed the goal (laughs).
In general, how much does it cost to compete for an Olympic medal?
The truth is, I can’t tell you how much a medal costs, but it is a big investment. You are part of a team, and it is not that the investment is specifically for the medal, but it is many years of training, it is the doctor who is in the team, the coach, the equipment, the transfers … At the beginning, the dads are the ones who have to pay a lot of things. When you’re a kid, it’s the trips to the different out-of-state competitions, the lodging, the food, seeing how to get the tickets, all of that. Years ago, when I started, it was a little more complicated, right now the institutes of each state support more children to go out to compete.
How do you see the situation of support for sport, beyond football?
There are more helps. I believe that we were milestones. Now, with Conade, with the Children’s and Youth Olympiad, much of the sport is focused on those results. So, the sports institutes invest to achieve results in the national Olympiad, and there the talents are detected.
Have you received a lot of support from private sponsorships?
Right now … Do I have to say it? Yes I have, but … Look, what happens in our sport? Sponsors, especially when it is an Olympic sport, are interested in the mere Olympic Games. They are very close, prior to the Games, but during the other three years there is not as much exposure, according to the companies, and it is a bit complicated here in Mexico for a company to support you. Currently, with social networks, many brands and many companies approach and want to give you their product and that you post. They think you are in need of a product, but I can go and buy it, I don’t need it. I accept the things that are convenient for me, but that they do not take away my time to be able to train.
On the other hand, logically, I am aware that sport is a stage and it cannot last my whole life, so it is good to capitalize on it. It is important to create a future, to create an image, because after all my image is a brand, so I have to link it to something good, to something positive. This ends and then I enter normal life, but I enter older than other people, with less work experience, so I need a mattress to invest, start a business or something like that.
What is missing for Mexico to achieve more success in the Olympic Games?
There is a lack of more coaches, more schools, more study, more methodology applied to sports, better salaries for coaches, more centers to play sports, copying models from certain countries. Sport is an investment, it is a very large investment, but it should not be seen as an expense. High-performance sports help sports in general: people see it, that motivates them to do sports, to do physical activity, and it is replicated in that obesity decreases.
I think Mexico is doing well, but there are always many things to improve. That there are many more children who play sports, that parents are aware of taking their children to practice it, to support them, that they know that not everything has to depend on the government. When I started, my parents had to solve everything, as I grew up and having results, you win and make you a creditor to be able to pay for things, but many times the Mexican wants everything to be given to him. They should make things easier for you so that you can play sports, but parents are often the first promoters. But never forcing and saying, ‘You have to do this, you have to win.’
What will you do when you retire?
I like politics. Thanks to a former governor of my state who supported me, I saw the scope of having such an important position, being able to support. So, in the future I would love to have some public office in which I can help [today, Rommel Pacheco is a federal deputy in Yucatán, for the PAN]. And have your own business. I studied is Business Administration, and there are many ideas of what I could put. It’s that: a business of your own and seeing a way to help society with a public position.
