Jhoen Lefont: Between land and water…. without impossible things with a ball (+ PHOTOS)

Jhoen Lefont: Between land and water…. without impossible things with a ball (+ PHOTOS)
Fecha de publicación: 
14 December 2017
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Jhoen Lefont always thinks about new world records, as if the ball were a branch of his body. Now, he beat the 50-meter mark in ball control in 1:14.15 minutes  

There’s always merit in perseverance and because of those whims of fate, Jhoen Lefont swam again at Baragua Pool Complex. He didn’t do it to break the competitive boredom and try to tune up his capabilities like in the times when he was in the national water polo team. Now, he swam the 50-meter Olympic pool controlling a soccer ball on his head in 1:14.15 minutes. The key? To demonstrate that nothing is impossible between land and water, when it is about world and Guinness records.

This time his brother became a chief supporter in his preparation, because his coach Jorge del Valle was immersed in the competitive commitments of the women’s water polo squad. He dialogued with Cubasi on this intensive level and other details:

Why did you choose this modality and decide to set the new record here at the reopened Baragua Pool Complex?

“We were managing it for a while now. On land, athletes seek ball control records running 100 meters in less time. We wanted to extrapolate it to the water. It’s the aim since I started this path in 2010. To try to homologate the biggest possible number of marks. Hence, the idea to control the ball in an Olympic pool.

I began my preparation since I finished the previous juggling record (12 minutes and fraction) and here since it is a roofed complex, climatic variables do not influence and conditions are much more favorable”.

I think of that 200-meter record set in the channel of Marina Hemingway. Main differences as regards preparation with respect to this one?

“The #1 difference is that for the previous record I worked very hard in balance, with heavy aerobic loads on the ground and in water. It was a distance record, there was no pressure with the time, but the wind was my enemy. The best way to perform the displacement modality is backwards and at that time I did it forwards, especially because of the sun, which was behind me and I could not carry it out backwards.

This one requires speed and I am happy with the mark. We intended to finish below 1:20 minutes and the 1:14.15 minute mark was good, although I think I did the first half a bit slow”.

I sought pace in the first half and sped up after 25 meters.

Was your water polo inheritance key?

“That was the idea strategically. Overall, I swim the first 25 meters very fast, but we decided to change in order to guarantee the distance and to finish off toward the end. So it happened. The legs suffer a lot; they are the push or engine. Moreover, I need a lot of concentration on the ball and the arms operate as a sort of helm of the body.

Next year, the first thing I will try to do will be to surpass the 1,513 head bunt record.

We are also assessing the 200-meter record or the 12-minute ball control record, but I will open with the 1,513 bunts”.

What do you feel when you see yourself in Guinness Yearbook along with Usain Bolt, Julio Cesar La Cruz, and some other world sports greats?

“A very great pride. They are very selective when it comes to choosing categories. In addition, it is one of the best selling books every year and that also means to place Cuba’s name next to Julio César. We congratulated one and other, and were talking on that privilege”.

Lefont sets off towards new records. His family is an essential component at every step he takes. He has established an unyielding alliance with a ball, his red and black wetsuit. The Dolphin of ball control, as he is nicknamed, has well-defined horizons among bunts, water dribbles, and balance and time challenges.

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Jhoen Lefont

altJhoen Lefont along with his brother and his parents

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Translated by Jorge Mesa Benjamin / Cubasi Translation Staff

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