Tenacity, courage and focus are the characteristics of Diego Cantillo, the pride of Costa Rica, who swam across two continents, Europe and Africa, through the Strait of Gibraltar.
A few days ago, we had an exclusive conversation with Diego and we are pleased to tell you the details of his recent achievement in international waters, all those significant memories, purposes and moments that today are part of his essence.
Last September, the Tico native of Cartago, who currently resides in Tamarindo, Guanacaste fulfilled the goal he had postponed in 2020 due to the pandemic. That initiative which arose after his beginnings in marathons and open water ultramarathons, the time invested in researching what were the most important challenges, finding among them the Strait of Gibraltar, calling much attention to the fact of crossing Europe and Africa.
Its fascination comes from the history part of Greek mythology, in which Hercules in his legendary journey separated the mountains that flank the Strait of Gibraltar, thus creating the iconic sea passage that offered Diego the best of his experiences in a distance of approximately 15.1 kilometers, that is, a crossing of 4 hours and 33 minutes.
Quite a challenge, since the Strait of Gibraltar is characterized by strong currents, variable temperatures and unpredictable waves.
Did he feel fear? Diego Cantillo said no, because his comfort is more in the water than on land.
Since he thought about making the trip a few years ago, he wanted to go alone, a situation that was not the case, because there was a waiting list a little long, then the way to be able to make it on the closest date was in a group. “I didn’t know anyone in the group, the only thing I knew was that I was the fastest and most experienced. Two were from France and the other from Kazakhstan,” he said.
Was there good communication and action as a group?
Diego said that relatively early in the crossing, one of the members of the group began to feel ill and he had to shoulder the team, directing and leading them so that the team would not become disorganized and would not leave the affected person behind.
He also had the fundamental support of two boats during the trip: a guide boat and a speedboat for food, observation and certification of the crossing.
At the crossing, he fed every 45 minutes, taking into account to last as little as possible at each feeding stop and not to rest. “The ideal is hydration mixed with carbohydrates and protein. When they are crossings in which the sun is going to burn a lot I use zinc oxide especially on the face and back, on this occasion I used a little on the face and lanolin on the neck to help the skin rubbing a little,” Cantillo explained.
What was the hardest part of the crossing between motivation, water temperature and more?
For Diego, the hardest thing was the cold in the first and last kilometers, especially in the last ones because you had to go at a slow pace to wait for one of the group that was going slow, so you had to hold on at full speed. “And to prepare myself for the cold, what I did was to take cold baths in a freezer that I adapted for this practice.
Competencies and achievements
Diego is like a fish in water. All the marathons and ultramarathons he has done have been paid for by him, without any external help.
Regarding competitions, as part of his goals, in which he has participated are 8, not counting his recent achievement the crossing of the Strait of Gibraltar.
In September 2015, he participated in the “Cruce Golfo Dulce”, swimming from Playa Nicuesa to Puerto Jimenez, covering a distance of 14 kilometers.
In June 2016, he swam in the “Swim Around Key West”, a circumnavigation of Key West, managing to reach a total of 18.4 kilometers.
In September of the same 2016, he also participated in the “Cruce Golfo Dulce” swimming from Playa Nicuesa to Puerto Jimenez, again covering 14 kilometers.
In 2017, in a short distance of 2,400 meters of open water, she swam in the 17th FINA Masters Swimming World Championship in Budapest.
In June 2018, she participated in the 8 Bridges Hudson River Swim, swimming from the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge to the Mid-Hudson Bridge, covering a distance of 31.9 kilometers.
In September of also 2018, his participation was in another “Golfo Dulce Crossing”, but this time longer, swimming from Punta Saladero to Playa Nicuesa and finishing in Puerto Jimenez, covering a total distance of 21 kilometers.
In July 2019, he showed his best performance in the “20- Bridges Manhattan Swim”, performing a counter-clockwise circumnavigation of Manhattan, swimming an extensive distance of 46 kilometers.
Diego said “present” in the double crossing of Golfo Dulce (28 km in 7:30 hours approximately), several 10km competitions such as Open Water, Golfo de Papagayo and in several places such as Lake Arenal.
There are other open water participations of distances less than 10 km that he does not remember today.
Regarding training, Diego Cantillo emphasized that when he trained in Santa Ana in the Kurt Niehaus pool he did about 5 km per day, 5 or 6 days a week. For what was the crossing of the Strait, he trained about 50 minutes, 3 times a week because in Tamarindo it is difficult to get longer hours to train in the pool.
His family, his great pillar
When we talked about his family and the experiences that come to mind, Cantillo highlighted when he went some weekends with his father, grandfather and brothers to the mountain where there was no electricity or any technology, “despite that we had a great time away from everything, surrounded by pure mountain”.
Later, he made special mention of his mother, who took him to learn the discipline of sports, which helped him to be always active. She took him to swim first in some pools in Orosí, then with the Cartagena Sports Union (UCD); in the TEC pool and then in the Brumosa Swimming Association, in the Polideportivo de Cartago.
His parents, grandfather, godfather, siblings and nieces are his pillars.
When he was just a child, he began his passion for swimming in the pool and in the sea. He began to practice open water swimming competitions when he was about 15 years old in short distances of 3km. In 2015, he began his participation in marathons and ultramarathons swimming, because that year the Golfo Dulce crossing (14km) from Golfito to Puerto Jimenez was going to take place, “then I decided to return to training after several years of not training, I saw it as a challenge and decided to start training at KN Swim Academy, there I met people with the same passion”.
What inspires you about Costa Rica?
Diego has always loved Costa Rica’s nature, especially the sea. “I can spend hours in the sea and not get bored, or I can listen to the sound of the waves and relax a lot. Of course, a problem nowadays on many Costa Rican coasts, is the problem of gentrification”.
More about Diego…
Diego considers himself an energetic, stubborn, passionate, impulsive, determined and unafraid to take on challenges.
He is not only a swimmer, he is a computer engineer by profession, graduated in 2008 from the Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica and since then he has been practicing it.
His hobbies include bodysurfing, swimming to islands and making sculptures with sea wood.
Next year, he hopes to open a business related to tourism.
Person he admires: Cantillo has always been attracted to Leonardo DaVinci “for his ability to excel in multiple areas, from art to engineering. In general, I almost never watch sports, I like to practice it a lot, but I almost never watch them,” he added.
The next goal
About what will be the next goal regarding open water swimming, he said he has not coordinated what it will be, although he has several in mind. For now he is only focused on his next year’s endeavor.
Difficult moments
Life is not always colorful and many people with faith and motivation have been able to overcome obstacles, Diego Cantillo does not escape from those difficult moments and highlighted what happened in the year 2021 in which they physically lost his father and his brother in very close dates. “Only time has helped us to face it,” he said.
About strong moments within his sports practice, in 2018 about a month before swimming 32 kilometers he fractured several lumbar vertebrae specifically L1, L2 and L3 and was in bed for a month; he had trained so much that he did not want to stop carrying out that goal. In swimming, just by stopping training for a week you lose a lot in terms of condition and he had to stop training for about a month just before the swim, but he still decided to do his competition and managed to finish the 32 kilometers with pure mind and heart.
The message that Diego Cantillo gave us is that we must always move forward…. “Life is short, and if you don’t fight for what you like, no one else is going to do it for you. You have to leave excuses aside, especially nowadays where people expect everything to be easy and handed to them on a silver platter. Life is to live it the way you want to live it, be a free soul, enjoy it and make the most of it.
If you want to know much more about Diego you can follow him on his Instagram account: @c.a.n.t.i
Undoubtedly we are pleased to have talked with a Costa Rican like Diego, who is faithful to his country, mainly to the sea that captivates many tourists. Diego remains in history as the first Costa Rican who swam as a leader across two continents, through the Strait of Gibraltar.
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