Water Champ
8/21/2006 8:50:41 PM by Kaya Baez
With one-third of this Olympic hopeful’s talent relating to the water, it’s no wonder Manny Huerta has a relationship with the ocean that dates back to his first month on Earth and continues on into his Olympic career.
Photo by Jim Fairman
Manny Huerta’s love affair with the ocean goes all the way back to before he was a month old back in Cuba. As his mother, Martha Ayala, attests, he would rather swim than cry when he was a baby. “I remember the first time I held him in the ocean he started flapping his arms and legs and smiling,” she says. “I knew from then on he was destined to be connected with the water for the rest of his life.”
And so it came that 15 years later, Huerta entered the U.S. and started his journey toward Olympic Gold, training and reading up on the Olympics with his coach and mentor, Robert Pozo, a man Huerta says helped him get sponsorships and compete with the big boys, even when he wasn’t one of them. “I remember [Pozo] would always tell me ‘It’s not the size of dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog’ whenever I would get frustrated with a finish or get down during practice,” says Huerta. “He really inspired me to take it to a level I would never have known how to achieve without his guidance and constant encouragement.”
It was the intense fervor for swimming, running and cycling that his coach engrained in him that earned Huerta the title of National Junior Champion in both the triathlon and duathlon sectors and helped him become the youngest-ever American to podium on a professional ITV race. When asked which sport he prefers - swimming, cycling or running - he’s quick to say he leans toward the water. “Running and cycling is dangerous - especially when cars are involved!” he says. “I’ve been hit by drivers so many times while practicing in the wee hours that I’ve lost count. The water is soothing, relaxing and safe…once you take the risks of drowning and sharks out of the equation!”
Now 23, Huerta lives in the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, working hard toward solidifying a position in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. As a member of the USA Triathlon Team, he’s already competed in Beijing, having recently completed the ITU World Cup Race there. “I didn’t finish as strongly as I would of liked, but at least I was able to spend some time in my future Olympic host city,” he says. “It’s a place that’s very different from what I’m used to, but I still felt very comfortable competing on soon-to-be Olympic soil.”
Practicing for most of the hours he’s awake, Huerta barely has time to relax. But when he does, he says he likes to pull out a box of memorabilia he stores under his bed and reminisce. “I like to look through old photos and remember the good times I’ve had with family and friends,” he says. “My favorite photographs are the ones that have the beach in the background.”