Laura Aarts, a personal reunion as a way to an Olympic debut

World champion in 2023world silver in 2015 and universal bronze in 2022. European Champion in 2018 and in 2024. But there is an account pending to crown his illustrious career. “I am happy and excited to play in the Olympic Games for the first time,” account. It’s not just any debutante who says that. Laura Aartsgoalkeeper of the Dutch team who is a good candidate for medals in Paris, is ready to live, at twenty-seven years old, a new experience: his Olympic debut.

Yes, prepared, because until now I had no choice. In Rio 2016because their team is not qualified. In Tokyo 2021, because their personal circumstances are very different in today’s. For this reason, Aarts, in the spotlight for months after his signing for Astralpool Sabadell for next season from Assolim Mataró, is clear who will be on his mind in the coming weeks: his first Olympic Games.

Another grueling club season is upon us. before, it’s time to close a circle which Laura thought she would never complete. “In addition, the fact that the Games are in Paris and Europe will make them more accessible for our people,” he celebrated. “I’m ready to play, fight for the medal. The team is ready”warned Aarts looking for a big icing on the cake missing national team tournaments on his record.

The story must go in parts. Aarts won his first medal with the Dutch team at the 2015 Kazan World Cup, where he was declared world runner-up. However, that championship is not a qualifier for the Rio Games with only eight spots for the women’s team. The European quotas depended on a place in the 2016 continental tournament (Hungary won) and a Pre-Olympic qualifier in the Netherlands where Laura’s Dutch team saw the United States, Italy, Russia and Spain take places. His team is not at the Brazilian event.

The bet must be Tokyo. Or not. Aarts continued in the ranks of the national team in the following Olympic cycle, where he became the European champion in Barcelona. However, he was not very comfortable. At that moment I felt it water polo cannot be the only pillar of his life and the pandemic did the rest: water polo is over. “I don’t regret giving up in Tokyo. I was busy then, studying and working. My life is different and I’m not really worried about the Games,” he explained. “Back then, I was happy with what I did and I was happy the decision he made. I needed that break from water polo and I didn’t feel bad about it,” Laura reflected.

It was very clear to me. “I’m just tired. The life of a professional player is tough. You keep pushing yourself to the limit and it’s not just your body that gets tired. I don’t want that to happen. “I didn’t feel satisfied with continuing to play,” she reflects “Also even though I played, I didn’t think I was improving. I wasn’t happy with what I was doing because I didn’t feel like training. I just liked playing games“, Explanation.

Clearly something is wrong. “That’s not enough, because training is more important than the games. If you train hard, you can play at a fantastic level in them. But I felt that I wasn’t training at the level I should and I couldn’t play to the level I want.” , he said of his contradiction at the time. “I consider that as a professional athlete I cannot train at 60% to compete against the best teams in the world. I don’t want to keep doing that,” he summed up.

Rest is perfect for him. His sports career, as good as it was, did not bring him much joy at the time, neither with his national team nor with his club, the Hungarian Dunaujvaros. “I took the opportunity to study Physiotherapy. But most of all I learned to have more confidence in myself in everything outside of water polo,” he said. “I can’t live the rest of my life playing this. I realized I could do other things. That he could study, that he could work,” explained Aarts. In fact, he dedicated himself to improving his professional life in that medical field, which is very different from high-level sports.

That facet is behind us. “When I stopped, I thought about my sports career. I decided to study, work. I want to find a job as a ‘physio’, to become a personal trainer. It was clear to me that water polo was over. I don’t want to go back“said Laura. “Now I look back at that time and I see that I gained confidence in other areas that I think will help me when I finish my sports career. I learned a lot about myself, about my way of communicating. It helped me not to get stressed because I was thinking about finishing my studies. while I was playing or in my future after sports,” Laura reflected. “I think all of this helped me refocus on sports at this time in my life,” she said.

From goodbye to return

Because, yes, what would be certain withdrawal is not. Aarts ended his career in 2019. seen on television, six months later, how his team won a Pre-Olympic Championships ticket to Tokyo at the Budapest European Championship. He saw how, in that qualification tournament, his country suffered a sweet defeat against the Hungary of his now teammate Rita Keszthelyi, because the only thing that mattered was reaching the final for the Games. He watched from afar as Hungary once again crossed paths to eliminate the Netherlands in the quarterfinals. But I still don’t miss being in the pool.

The selector Arno Havenga He left the Dutch team after failing to achieve his goal in Tokyo. He is second Evangelos Doudesis is in charge as a technician with very clear ideas. One of the most important was first met by a happy former water polo player who only practices his sport for fun. “I don’t know the reason why he did that, but the new coach He called me and was very clear to me” explained Aarts. “He told me directly: ‘Laura, I want you on the national team.’ That was decisive, because he believed in me. I believed that I was a good goalkeeper, that I could come back. Maybe he’s right,” he said with a smile.

Doudesis suggested that he combine sports training with his studies. So, two years after her retirement, Laura Aarts is thinking about it. He came to a conclusion: try to see how he feels playing. “About two months after the coach talked to me, I realized that I wanted to train little by little, that he might want to give me a chance to play in the League. Before that conversation, I hadn’t even considered it,” he explained. By the end of 2021more than two years after his retirement, Aarts returned to training with the Dutch team. Months later, he became a Dunaujvaros player again.

“Just I found that love for water polo back. For practice, basically, because I didn’t lose it by playing,” Laura explained. “I needed the break, honestly. I have never been happy and I need to find that happiness again. Now I feel the same as before, the joy of life. But I want to train. It’s a feeling to come back,” explains Laura. She is very clear about what made the difference in her return: the good atmosphere she experienced with her team during the months of work. “That’s what makes you stronger as a team. It’s not about having the best players, but the best team,” he explained as a key.

As a team, after the event in Tokyo, the Netherlands was declared world champion last year and crowned European champion in 2024, in two very close finals against the Spanish team and with some key saves by Aarts. “Just Now I’m happy to play and get a chance to go to some Gamesbecause I don’t have the youth I had a few years ago,” said Laura. “But it’s also true that a few years ago I didn’t think I would have this option,” she explained.

Therefore, his purpose is very clear. “It’s a combination, but For me it is more important to be happy in what I do than to win medals. If yes, it would be easier to achieve those medals,” he summed up. “At the age of 24 (his age for Tokyo 2020) I felt unhappy and if I won a gold medal at the Olympic Games I wouldn’t be happy either. I was not happy with the process. Now I am and I hope to reach that goal,” he warned.

Because Laura Aarts decided to step aside when she saw that water polo was not fulfilling for her. He learned about himself and prioritized that aspect while watching from afar as his teammates navigated their path. He regained his composure and returned to continue being decisive. Now, the years have passed, after reconnecting with himselfis ready to seek the ‘Triple Crown’: world champion and double European champion, What seems certain is that his brilliant career will, at last, be Olympic.