The Cuban swimmer Dainé Pedré announced this Friday that she will not participate in the Central American and Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo 2026, not due to lack of athletic ability, but because the Cuban State was unable to send her to the only qualifying tournament she had access to.
In a video posted on her Instagram profile, the 20-year-old athlete from Havana explained that her only way to qualify was to participate in the Open in the Dominican Republic, but the political and economic crisis in the country prevented her from doing so.
"The only way I could qualify was by going to the Open in the Dominican Republic. But unfortunately, I couldn't go due to the political and economic situation in the country. They simply couldn't send me," he declared.
Pedré had returned to high performance after two years away, with a clear goal: to qualify for the Central American Games. "After two years away from high performance, I decided to start swimming again. I returned with a clear objective, to qualify for the Central Americans," he stated in the video.
What hurts the most, in her own words, is that the problem was not athletic. “The saddest thing is that it wasn’t due to a lack of skill, but rather a lack of opportunity,” said the swimmer specialized in breaststroke and individual medley.
According to what he revealed, he learned of his exclusion about two months ago. "I found out two months ago that all my preparation had been in vain, all those hours of training, the journey to reach the training sessions, and every sacrifice was overshadowed by the political and economic situation my country is going through," he wrote in the video description.
The achievements of Dainé Pedré support her competitive level. At the V Alba Games in Venezuela 2023, she was the top medal winner for Cuba, with two golds in the individual 200 m and 400 m combined events and a silver in the 200 m breaststroke, becoming the first Cuban swimmer to win a championship at those Games.
Previously, at the I Caribbean Games in Guadeloupe 2022, he had won silver in the 200 m individual medley and bronze in the 100 m breaststroke.
The case of Pedré is not isolated. The crisis in Cuban sports has affected more prominent figures: the best Cuban swimmer, Elisbet Gámez, stepped away from the pools in 2024 for similar reasons of exhaustion and lack of conditions.
For the Santo Domingo 2026 Games, Cuba has qualified just four Cuban swimmers for the pool competition: Vladimir Hernández, Yadiel Estrada, Laurent Estrada, and Andrea Becali, all through spots automatically assigned in the COSADO technical manual, without having attended any qualifiers.
This situation reflects the systematic deterioration of high-performance sports on the Island. While China donates sports equipment to Cuba as a symbolic gesture, the reality is that athletes with the potential to compete internationally are unable to travel to qualifying tournaments due to a lack of state funding.
Pedré, however, did not close the door. "Yes, of course it hurt me, of course it bothers me, but unfortunately I do not have the solution in my hands. This time it couldn't be done, but this is not over yet," he concluded. The Central American and Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo 2026 will be held from July 24 to August 8.
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