Mestre Brothers Carry on Family Legacy For Venezuela In Solid First Olympics

Alfonso Mestre; Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

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Mestre Brothers Carry on Family Legacy For Venezuela In Solid First Olympics

Alberto Mestre didn’t pay much attention to his phone in the last week in June, knowing he didn’t need any extra pressure. It was expectation enough that swimming in the Olympics is pretty much the family business, and the Venezuelan sprinter badly wanted to etch his name into that ledger by getting to the Tokyo Olympics.

So when his brother, Alfonso Mestre, told him on Wednesday night that he’d attained his A cut in the 800 freestyle at a meet in Puerto Rico, Alberto was happy for his younger brother. But he was also concerned to find that his level of desire to be part of the Games could still somehow increase.

Three days later, at the Bahamian Championships and just before that weekend’s final cutoff to post qualifying or consideration times for the Olympics, Alberto channeled that pressure into a massive swim. And together, the brothers have continued to make history, for themselves and their family, in Tokyo.

“I just went for it,” Alberto said of his qualification swim, which came in a time trial. “I hadn’t talked to my brother from the time he had done it or to my family, because I really like to be focused. After I did it, they were the first people I called, and the emotions were just sky high.”

#NATACION??‍♂️ ¡LOS MESTRE LISTOS PARA TOKIO! Alberto Mestre Jr. Hijo mayor del olímpico Alberto Mestre, logra marca A en los 50m libres a los JJOO @tokyo2020 en el BAHAMAS AQUATICS MEET 2021, Mestre paro el cronómetro con 21.93

➡️ La marca mínima para #Tokyo2020 es de 22.01 pic.twitter.com/LHFHPhZqyd

— Instituto Nacional de Deportes (@INDeporteVE) June 26, 2021

Alberto, rising to the pressure again, added the honor of an Olympic semifinal swim, taking home 15th place in the men’s 50 free. His top time was from prelims at 21.96, just shy of the national record 21.93 he set to get here. He went 49.44 in his less favored the event, the 100 free, to finish 33rd.

While Alfonso didn’t earn a second swim in either, he had solid showings in both the 400 free (16th in 3:47.14) and 800 free (15th in 7:52.07). The former time established a Venezuelan record, while his qualifying swim from the Central American and Caribbean Swimming Championships (CCCAN) stands as the 800 free record, achieved off the front of a 1,500 race.

It’s only further proof of what exemplary stewards of the Mestre family name they are, the next generation of Venezuela’s foremost swimming family.

The Mestre’s father, Alberto Mestre Sr., is a legend. He qualified for the 1980 Olympics (at just 15 years old) and the 1984 Games. In Los Angeles, Alberto Sr. finished fifth in the 100 free and sixth in the 200 free. He has five Pan Am Games medals, including individual silver and bronze, to his name from the 1983 event. Alberto Sr. won three NCAA relay titles with the University of Florida, two team national championships and was a 17-time All-American.

Alfonso has followed his father’s footsteps to Gainesvillt. Alberto made his way to Stanford. But both are at the Olympics, something their father has long groomed them for.

“It’s the best feeling one could ever ask for,” Alfonso said. “My dream since I was born was to go to the Olympics like my dad did. Coming to Tokyo is fulfilling that dream. The next step of working toward that dream is to get into an Olympic final or win a medal for Venezuela. That’s my goal for Paris, and I did a pretty good job here in Tokyo.”

The Mestre brothers were born in Venezuela but grew up in Puerto Rico, where they won a slew of national championships. Like their father, they finished their schooling in the United States at the Hill School in Pennsylvania, Alberto graduating in 2017 and Alfonso two years later.

Where they’ve diverged is in their specialties. Alberto Sr. was the consummate mid-distance freestyler. Alberto Jr. is an out-and-out sprinter, as evidenced by his 50 free finish, with his 6-foot-8 frame. Alfonso somehow got the distance gene. Neither of the brothers is quite sure how.

“I liked it,” Alfonso said of the distance workload. “I like training hard. I like going to practice every day and almost not being able to walk after practice. That’s what I like about swimming, and I just stuck with it.”

Both Mestre brothers carry a lot of pressure. It’s borne by their name, and by the lack of elite swimmers from Venezuela since their father’s career ended. The nation has only had 18 Olympic medalists all-time, all in the Summer Games. Only one swimmer, Rafael Vidal with bronze in the men’s 200 butterfly at the 1984 Games, has ever medaled from Venezuela.

The brothers are able to help each other carry the burden. They have their father as a resource to diffuse it. But they also have high hopes themselves, and Tokyo was a very significant step on the pathway toward achieving it.

“He knows the pressure that it is to represent Venezuela at the Olympics, because everyone expects you to get top eight, top 16,” Alfonso said, referring to his father. “So it’s a lot of pressure. And he’s helped us to handle that pressure the right way and to use that pressure not in a bad way but in a positive way, to use it as motivation to swim faster, focus better and give everything for Venezuela.”

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