Antoni Ponce Bertran

Started: He began swimming at age six in Vilafranca del Penedes, Spain. He took up Para swimming in 2012. (Athlete, 26 Aug 2024, 03 Dec 2017; kurere.org, 10 Nov 2018; concursoescolar.hoy.es, 01 May 2018) Reason: He had previously competed in non-Para swimming as a child, and became aware of Para swimming when his wife watched the 2012 Paralympic Games in London. He then became involved in the sport again as part of his therapy. (fosbury.cat, 18 Feb 2020; kurere.org, 10 Nov 2018; Athlete, 03 Dec 2017) Ambition: To win a medal at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (Athlete, 26 Aug 2024) Awards: In February 2020 he was among the winners in the Best Athlete category at the Effort Awards Gala held by website dxtadaptado.com, which promotes and reports on Para sport. (paralimpicos.es, 06 Feb 2020; dxtadaptado.com, 03 Feb 2020) In 2018 he was named Athlete of the Year by sports magazine Fosbury in the Catalonia region of Spain. (fosbury.cat, 18 Feb 2020) In 2017 he received an acknowledgement from the city of Sitges in Spain. The honour was in recognition of his participation at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. (sitgesvida.com, 01 Aug 2017) Additional Info: OCCUPATION He runs a physical therapy clinic in Vilafranca del Penedes, Spain. "I wake up every day at 06:30 in the morning, travel by car to Barcelona to train, then return to Vilafranca del Penedes to work in the clinic. Doing both things involves good management of my time, but it helps me to disconnect my mind from swimming, and that suits me well." (marca.com, 25 Aug 2022, 04 Oct 2019; toniponce.weboficial.net, 21 Feb 2021; dxtadaptado.com, 30 Dec 2019) TRIBUTE He has a tattoo in tribute to his mother, who passed away in 2009 due to cancer. "She always told me that I should live and enjoy life and fight for my dreams." (mundodeportivo.com, 25 Jan 2023)