Sports
Nuria Diosdado
She left a mark in the history of synchronized swimming in Mexico
Nuria Diosdado became one of the most famous faces in the sports world, especially in her discipline: artistic swimming, a sport she has practiced since she was just five years old. Without expectations, this young woman from Guadalajara entered the water for the first time to work on her hyperactivity. However, seven years later, a trip to Barcelona changed her goals.
“When I turned 12 my dad took me to Barcelona for the world championship in my discipline. There, upon seeing the champions and the Mexican team walking for their competition, I fell in love with the sport.”
This is when the successful story of this Mexican athlete began to take shape, a story that has nothing to do with chance since the woman from Jalisco went on to dedicate body and soul to achieving each one of her goals in her personal life and professional career.
At only 15 years old, Nuria made one of the most important decisions of her life. After being called up by the National Artistic Swimming Team, she left her native Guadalajara and moved to Mexico City to continue her dream. A test that today she feels proud to have passed, as she herself told Hola Américas, dedicating a few words to her past self.
“You are going to go on a path that neither you nor anyone else imagines. There will be hard hits, but you will be able to come out of each one stronger. Don’t worry because you will always come out ahead. Let yourself be surprised by life, there are wonderful things to come and what you always imagined is waiting for you around the corner.”
In 2015, Nuria was recognized as a “Citizen of the World,” an award given by the International Committee of Educational Tourism of the Young World Fest, making her the first female athlete in Mexico recognized with this award.
The captain of the Mexican National Artistic Swimming Team has participated in three Olympic Games (London 2012, Rio 2016, and Tokyo 2020). Following her recent triumph in the 2023 Artistic Swimming World Cup held in Egypt, where she won gold in the free duet category; In addition to occupying first place on the podium for her brilliant participation in Synchronized Swimming, the Jalisco native has already set her mind and heart towards her Olympic quarterfinals, the important sports contest held in Paris in 2024.
Nuria is considered the greatest Mexican figure in the history of synchronized swimming, a title supported by her 9 gold medals, one silver, and one bronze won in the World Series throughout her two decades competing in her sport.
Apart from being a high-performance athlete, Nuria also enjoys her role as daughter, sister, aunt, and wife, living her personal life with the same passion she exudes in her routines in the water. She also has a degree in Administration, as well as two master’s degrees; in Marketing and Public Image. In November 2021, she married Javier Arnaiz, her physical trainer. Nuria also has a very maternal personality, which is why she confesses that one of her next goals is to start a family. “I would love to be a mom. It is a chapter that I would love to experience soon, once I put an end to my sporting career.”
