Rafael Fente Damers, the son of a Madrid-born father (who grew up in the Basque Country) and a French mother, but born in the United States, qualified for Paris 2024 to represent his country at the thirty-third modern Olympic Games. He started swimming at the age of 5 in Anchorage, Alaska, where he was a member of the Anchorage YMCA Swim Team.

Although he trains in the Spanish capital (he trains at SEK and has competed for the Royal Spanish Swimming Federation), his achievements will be for the neighbouring country as he competes under its flag. At the age of 18, he qualified for the Olympic Games, but the news didn't stop there; during the celebrations, he was in such pain that he ended up in hospital.

The young man won the Spanish Autonomous Federation Championships last January (winning the 100 metres freestyle in the junior category with a time of 50.13) and came second at the Winter Open in Sabadell (Barcelona) in February, among other events.

After clocking 49.72 in the 100 freestyle at the European Junior Championships, the young swimmer decided to represent France last year and is also a member of the Annecy Dauphins, whose colours he will be wearing this week at the Trials in Chartres, with swimming star Léon Marchand as the main attraction.

Fente Damers broke the Olympic qualifying time to earn his place at Paris 2024 for his Olympic debut. He finished second in the 100 freestyle, ahead of Maxime Grousset (47.33), and also set a national age record with a time of 48.14.

So far, this is another story about the excellent work of the swimmers six weeks before the Olympic Games, but not quite. The end isn't the traditional celebration, medals and joy.

After securing his place in Paris, the expressions of pain in the French water surprised everyone and even Grousset had to act to help him out of the pool.

What exactly happened? After seeing the time that secured his place in the Paris Games, young Fente overdid it in his celebrations. He hit the water hard with his left arm and dislocated his shoulder. In fact, he had to appear on the podium in a sling and was later taken to a local hospital to rule out a more serious injury that could keep him out of future competitions.

The young Fente Damers gave a verbal commitment earlier this year to swim and study at the University of Texas and train with legendary American coach Bob Bowman, which could further boost his promising career, although he will need to take it easy during the celebrations.

This year's Olympic Games begin on 26 July, with the swimming events starting the day after the Opening Ceremony on 27 July.