Faces of the Future: Colombia's Diego Maldonado

“It is not impossible to achieve the goals I have. I believe the first step to accomplish what you want is to set an objective and see yourself doing it.”

It seems Colombian swimmers´ success, after claiming seven medals at Rio 2016 to help the South American country cap off its best Paralympics ever, will continue for many more years.

This is especially after 14-year-old Diego Maldonado burst onto the sporting scene at last month´s 2016 Medellin National Para Sports Open.

The young aspiring swimming star, currently competing in the S9 classification, won seven golds, three silvers and one bronze at the national event to make a name for himself as one of Colombia´s most promising Para athletes. Some even think he has the potential to become the next Carlos Serrano, the winner of Colombia’s first Paralympic gold for 36 years.

“I just want to continue competing at different events, learning new things and meeting new people,” said Maldonado, who has participated in many local competitions but has not yet swum abroad.

Next year´s Youth Parapan American Games in Sao Paulo, Brazil, from 20-25 March might be a good opportunity for Maldonado to boost his career on an international level, like Buenos Aires 2013 was for Colombia´s Paralympic and world swimming champion Serrano.

“I have to go step by step, but my biggest dream is to reach the Paralympic Games and compete also at different big international events,” he said.

“It is not impossible to achieve the goals I have. I believe the first step to accomplish what you want is to set an objective and see yourself doing it.”

Even though he did not compete at Rio 2016, Maldonado admitted having been able to watch them on TV motivated him to one day be on the other side of the screen.

“Those Paralympic Games were truly inspiring and make me dream of one day taking part in one edition of them,” said Maldonado, who looks up to Australia´s swimming champion and most decorated Paralympian ever, Matthew Cowdrey, and Colombia´s five-time Paralympian Moises Fuentes.

Maldonado had his left leg amputated in 2009 following a car accident he was involved in. “Whilst doing rehabilitation is when I found my passion for swimming, I started practising and never stopped,” he said.

The Colombian, whose favourite event is the 100m butterfly, believes his dream of competing at a Paralympic Games might only be four years away.

“Tokyo 2020 will happen not far from now. With a lot of effort and dedication, I think I can make this step, which would be the biggest in my life,” he said.