FARINANGO David

General
STRANDED
He was among a group of four Ecuadorian swimmers and two coaches who were left stranded in Bolivia for 40 days after the Bolivian borders were closed due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. The group had travelled to Bolivia in March 2020 for a training camp at the aquatic centre in Cochabamba to train for the 2020 South American Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Following an awareness campaign on social media, the group along with 23 other Ecuadorian citizens were repatriated after more than a month in Bolivia. (swimswam.com, 22 Apr 2020)

LEAVING HOME
He left his hometown of Machala, Ecuador, in 2019 and moved to Cuenca to pursue his academic and swimming goals. "I made the decision to come to Cuenca in November 2019 to enter university, as I did not study for two years after graduating from college, dedicating myself 100% to training. My family always tells me that studies and sports must go hand in hand. I also came because I was swimming alone in the Orense club where I trained before, since my teammates did not specialise in long distances. This circumstance demotivated me many times. Coming to Cuenca and training with [national teammate] Esteban Enderica has helped me a lot in the technical part, as well as the planning of our coach [Juan Fernando Enderica] who leads the group in the best way." (elmercurio.com.ec, 10 Apr 2021)