Body confidence from the early years
The confidence that Paula Leitón has in her body stems from her childhood. Other members of her family are also tall and similarly built, so that type of physique was “always treated as completely normal”.
Leitón remembers one episode in particular: “I was 10 years old and couldn’t buy clothes in the children’s section. Now I know where to shop, where to find what I need. But back then, I remember telling my mum, ‘I don’t get it. Why can’t I wear that?’ And she would calmly say, ‘They just don’t have what you need here. We’ll find it somewhere else, don’t worry’. She made it feel normal: ‘If not here, then somewhere else. It’s not your fault’. That attitude meant everything.”
While Leitón has learned to embrace her shape since she was a child, the athlete notes that she was not completely immune to all body-related insecurities. If the negative comments she got after Paris 2024 had come 10 years earlier, Leitón said, they would have affected her differently.
It was her family’s support and the extensive mental work she did to become a stronger athlete and individual that have helped her to deal with the body shaming as lightly as she did, but Leitón is well aware other people may need extra support.
Given how important her own childhood was in building the body confidence she has now, it is not surprising that the Olympic champion aspires to work with children when she retires from competitive sport. Leitón is working towards a teaching degree and is in her second year of studies, soon to start a practicum at a school.
“Teaching is my calling after water polo,” she said. “I’d love to work in education, especially in sport, to share how I learned to love it. And I know I can pass on values like teamwork, camaraderie, sacrifice…Everything sport has taught me in the pool, why not pass that on in the classroom too?”
Getting a sneak peek at Paula Leitón the teacher, the Olympic champion offered this advice to young girls: “If you enjoy something and it makes you happy, then keep doing it. That’s the most important thing. Don’t let what others say affect you, just enjoy what you do and make sure you’re doing it for yourself. And if you find something that truly fulfils you, especially in sport, it will be an incredible journey.”
Leitón will next compete at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore where she will try to win the last title still missing from her name, that of world champion.