From the pool to the operating room and from the operating room to the pool.
This is how the Uruguayan doctor
Gonzalo Leal
, 56, lived his 2023: between his work as a vascular surgeon and his demanding preparation to fulfill his dream of
swimming across the Río de la Plata
.
He tried it this Thursday
: he left from Colonia, Uruguay, heading to Punta Lara, in Argentina.
A 40 kilometer
journey
.
He died of cardiac arrest about 1,500 meters from the Buenos Aires coast
.
Two boats accompanied him, in one of which was one of his sons.
"Salteño. Husband. Father. Doctor."
This is how he defined himself on his Instagram account, where he has almost 1,000 publications.
Just look at the first images and videos to understand his
passion for swimming
.
Also the love for his family.
"
My parents took me swimming when I was very young
," the man from Salto, Uruguay, said in one of the posts.
Like his parents, he took his children swimming.
He managed to spread his passion to one of them, Octavio, who qualified for the
Junior Swimming World Cup
in 2019 .
Together, father and son, they traveled to Budapest for the championship.
Several years ago he was a member of the
Salto Rowing Club
.
Every year, he used to register for various competitions.
At the beginning of last December, he participated with 800 other people in the 8 kilometers in San Pedro, Buenos Aires.
He finished second in his category and 22nd overall.
"
We keep adding mileage
," he joked.
Although he had extensive experience, he had never faced a challenge as imposing as
crossing the Río de la Plata.
He knew it was not an easy task
, that's why he began training with the Spaniard Sergi García, head of the Spanish National Open Water Team.
Gonzalo Leal with his family.
He was also aware that
it could be dangerous
, which is why he carried out the
corresponding
medical studies and presented them to
Open Water Argentina
, the organizer of the sporting event.
The results were perfect:
he had no health problems
and was able to undergo such physical effort.
Aside from his passion for swimming, Leal was also
known in his city for having ventured into politics.
Founder of the group Movimiento
Naranja Uruguay, he ran in the 2020 elections as a
candidate for mayor of Salto
.
He lost to Andrés Lima, from Frente Amplio, who won re-election.
Hard training, a motivational phrase and death 1,500 meters from the coast
During the holidays
he increased the demands of his training
.
Not even the holidays stopped him.
On
New Year's Eve
, December 31, he swam 8.6 kilometers along the coast of Punta del Este.
"The surf is very difficult," he clarified.
On January 11, he swam 6.9 kilometers around the same spot.
Two days later, he added another challenge: "Traverse at the Gorriti Island crossing. Beautiful place. Beautiful swim."
After so much preparation, he told the networks about his next goal, the biggest of his life: "
I am going to try to cross the Río de la Plata swimming
. Thank you to everyone who has helped
me to get the desire out of it.
" .
Gonzalo Leal, 55, the Uruguayan doctor who drowned while trying to swim across the Río de la Plata.
"Obviously to my family, to my club and to my coach. Also to my lifelong swimming partners, those of now, those of when we were children and also those of the future. And above all to
my mother, who I know "He will be watching and encouraging me from heaven as he always did
," he concluded.
Three days before, he had shared a
motivating phrase
, perhaps thinking about the journey that lay ahead: "You'll see how you start the year,
fulfilling that dream that you had waited for so long
."
At
4:33 in the morning on Thursday
, he jumped into the waters of the Río de la Plata from Colonia.
Two boats accompanied him: one for first aid and another in which his son Octavio was.
However, he could not lean on or even touch any of those boats at any time if he wanted his trademark validated.
Gonzalo Leal died 1,500 meters off the Argentine coast.
He managed to complete
almost 39 of the 40 kilometers
of the route.
About
1,500 meters from the coast
, he "began to make
erratic movements
," according to the police report.
It was then that they quickly removed him from the water and put him on the assistance boat.
There they observed that he had "purple lips" and realized that "
he had no vital signs
," so they began to perform CPR maneuvers on him.
He had suffered
cardiac arrest
.
Once they reached land, personnel from the Argentine Naval Prefecture intervened and Leal was urgently transferred to the Ensenada Municipal Hospital, where they confirmed his death.
With information from Télam.