Santiago Lange: “The wind shaped me as a person”
Santiago Lange is a triple Olympic medalist and won gold in partnership with Rosario Cecilia Carranza Saroli in Rio de Janeiro 2016, nine months after being operated on for a lung tumor.
On the way to his seventh Olympic Game and with all his life invested in sailing, the sailor Santiago Lange affirms that the wind shaped his personality by teaching him to “accept things he did not want” and that today, at 59 years old after beating cancer, feels “more eager than ever” to compete in high performance.
“The wind is my fascination, it made me go through the worst adversities and the most beautiful moments. It formed me as a person. I am who I am thanks to the wind and the sea,” says the naval architect, who this Monday opens in the publishing world with his biography “Wind: the crossing of my life”.
Lange is a triple Olympic medalist: he obtained bronze in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 together with Carlos Espínola from Corrientes in the Tornado class; and gold in partnership with the Rosario Cecilia Carranza Saroli (Nacra class 17) in Rio de Janeiro 2016, nine months after being operated on for a lung tumor.
“I am going to retire when I do not enjoy what I do, but today I surprise myself, I would say that I have more desire than before”
INTERWIEV
How did the idea of the book come about?
– Lange: It was an offer from Red Bull, which has been my travel companion since 2000. After the Rio Games I had several offers and none convinced me but with Red Bull I got carried away by the phrase ‘have a child, write a book and plant a tree. ‘ That’s where the problems started, ha.
Why?
– L: Because it was a process that the beginning cost me a lot. From the beginning Red Bull had put a German writer and it seemed to me that it was not the best. I wanted the book to be Argentine because everything I experienced was here, so they told me: ‘well, find yourself a writer’ and I started to make water everywhere. But it ended up being a super nice, rewarding and exciting experience.
-What does this book contribute?
– L: It’s hard for me to judge that because I don’t like to talk about things made by me, it will be up to each reader to find what they can give. Personally, I tried to make the book very sincere, honest and to talk about things related to what the subtitle says: The journey of my life.
-Regarding the title, how would you define your relationship with the wind?
– L: The wind is my fascination. He was the one who pushed me for a long time, the one who made me go through the worst adversities and the most beautiful moments. He was the one that shaped me as a person because he taught me to accept things that perhaps I did not want.
I am who I am thanks to the sea and the wind. They are both closely linked to my personality.
–The wind is often used as a synonym for adversity. Is that a very present idea throughout your life and career?
– L: I don’t take it as adversity, in fact the subtitle of the book was going to be “For and against.” Many times the wind pushes you and it pushed me many more times than it pulled me back. The wind is difficult to read, it is an art to read it but on the other hand the science of meteorology has developed enormously and today we have much more understanding about it.
-Has sailing made you a lonely character?
– L: At one point yes, because it is a solitary sport. We are all day alone on the river and we do not have a platform. Although you are with your team, with your partner, the reality is that we sail all day alone on the river while in Buenos Aires there are 8 million people.
-Would you reproach your profession?
– L: No, I just have thanks. He has given me everything I have: friends, work … what more can I ask of him?
–At one point in his career, he questioned his vocation, wondering what contribution he made to society with his daily effort as an athlete. How did you resolve that situation?
– L: I think that having followed what I like made that situation resolve itself. Be faithful and consistent with what my passion is. Then came some results, the medals, and I already started to feel that we were inspiration for young sailors. With the medals we have also been able to give joy to the people, who felt proud that Argentina was able to win an Olympic medal.
– Did the Olympic gold finish convincing you about his contribution as an athlete?
– L: The Rio 2016 medal was the one that had the most impact because it came after having gone through the disease. It brought me incredible things because today I continue to receive messages from people who have overcome cancer and they tell me that I was a motivation for them. That is kind of mind-boggling.
“I’M GOING TO RETIRE WHEN I DON’T ENJOY WHAT I DO, IF I AM NOT GIVING EVERYTHING, IF I DON’T FEEL THAT I AM ENJOYING WHAT I DO, IF I FEEL THAT I AM MIDDLE LOW OR THAT I AM NOT LOOKING FOR EXCELLENCE ANY MORE. .
– WHEN THE DISEASE WAS DIAGNOSED, DID YOU FEEL WHAT ENDED HIS CAREER?
– L: THE FIRST THING I DID WAS ASK MYSELF WHY. IT SEEMED UNFAIR BECAUSE I ALWAYS HAD A VERY HEALTHY LIFE, I WAS SURPRISED AND I DIDN’T UNDERSTAND WHY THAT HAPPENED TO MY LUNG. IF I COULD CONTINUE NAVIGATING OR NOT, AT THAT TIME I HAD NO IDEA. I NEVER KNEW UNTIL AFTER THE OPERATION IF I WOULD BE ABLE TO CONTINUE IN HIGH PERFORMANCE BECAUSE I DIDN’T KNOW HOW I COULD END THE STORY.
– DID YOUR SPORTSMANSHIP HELP YOU TO OVERCOME CANCER?
– L: ABSOLUTELY. THERE ARE TWO CLEAR FACTS: BEING A SPORTSMAN GIVES YOU THOSE VALUES OF STRUGGLE AND EFFORT, OF CONFIDENCE IN YOURSELF, AND ON THE OTHER HAND, THE FACT OF PRACTICING THIS SPORT, IN WHICH WE PLAY WITH NATURE, CONTINUALLY TEACHES YOU TO ACCEPT IT. ONE CANNOT CONTROL.
– NINE MONTHS OF THE OPERATION, THE OLYMPIC GOLD IN RIO WOULD HAVE MEAN THE PERFECT ENDING TO HIS CAREER. WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO CONTINUE?
– L: BECAUSE IT IS MY LIFE, I ENJOY WHAT I DO A LOT. IT DOESN’T MATTER WHETHER WE WON OR LOST PREVIOUSLY. THEN I WONDER WHY NOT KEEP DOING IT?
-IN OTHER DISCIPLINES, MANY ATHLETES CONSIDER TO GIVE A GOOD CLOSING TO THE RACE AND THAT IT IS NOT THE SPORT THAT WILL END IT. DOES THIS NOT APPLY IN NAUTICAL?
– L: I’M GOING TO RETIRE WHEN I DON’T ENJOY WHAT I DO, IF I AM NOT GIVING EVERYTHING, IF I DON’T FEEL THAT I AM ENJOYING WHAT I DO, IF I FEEL THAT I AM MIDDLE LOW OR THAT I AM NOT LOOKING FOR EXCELLENCE ANY MORE. THERE I AM GOING TO PICK UP INSURANCE. BUT TODAY I AM SURPRISING MYSELF, I WOULD SAY THAT I HAVE MORE DESIRE THAN BEFORE. MY DESIRE TO PERFORM, TO CONTINUE IN HIGH PERFORMANCE, ARE HUGE. I DO NOT CARE ABOUT THE RISK OF GETTING OLD AND SAILING WORSE.
-WHAT ARE YOU PROJECTING FOR AFTER TOKYO 2020?
– L: I DON’T PROJECT STILL BUT TODAY FOR TODAY I FEEL THAT THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT I WILL CONTINUE NAVIGATING, BUT IT IS SOMETHING I’M GOING TO THINK AFTER THE GAMES.
