Mayuko Fujiki was born in Osaka, Japan to parents who were athletes. She spent her days in and around the pool from the age of two, as her mother was an artistic swimming coach: "I was two or three years old when my mother took me to her training because she was an artistic swim coach, so I was on the pool deck while she was training for three-four hours without a break." She was amazed by the atmosphere of the trainings, so the only sport she wanted to do was artistic swimming. She became a professional athlete and won an Olympic bronze medal in Atlanta in 1996.

Each Athlete is Different

After her retirement, Fujiki began working as a coach, and despite the professional level at which he did the sport, he began working with young children: "I really liked coaching little kids in the beginning."

Until 2010, she worked as a coach for the Spanish national team, during which time the Spaniards achieved many outstanding results. After years with the Spanish team, she coached the U.S. national team, then the Chinese, then Fujiki returned to Spain. As she says, each position has been a great challenge, so she has grown a lot: "Each places gave me a big challenge, but I got to enjoy all of them. I know going through those struggles made me a better coach.”

Fujiki has tremendous experience in artistic swimming and is trusted by the athletes. 23-time world champion, Olympic silver and bronze medallist Ona Carbonell said: "When you train under Fujiki, the athletes do not have to hesitate or resist anything because they can all trust her completely". Fujiki believes that each athlete has his or her own mentality, which should be considered: "It takes time to get to know each one of them - that's my first step. I know that if I have 12 swimmers, each one of them is so different that I cannot tell them one thing in the same way. I think that's why, even in competition, I try to put myself in their shoes, in that moment to this how they are feeling.”

We Had to be Very Open Minded in the Past Two Years

New rules, new era, but the Spanish team is still on the rise. Mayuko Fujiki thinks it's very important to think fast and be open-minded: "You can't be afraid to do something different, but at the same time you have to be fast, you have to be the first in this sport. You can't complain about the different situations, you must adapt quickly, I think that's the key to being better. I think that kind of attitude helped a lot. But we must be consistent, we have to build the choreography day by day.”

The Primary Goal was Olympic Qualification

The World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka was the best World Championships in the history of Spanish Artistic Swimming, as they won seven medals, including three golds, while in Doha, 2024 they won only four medals, none of them were gold. But this is not a cause for concern, as Fujiki added that the main goal was to qualify for the Olympics, and no risks were taken: “We were really focusing on that to get the quote to the Olympics. We didn't risk anything; we went really clearly not taking base marks and make sure that we get top five. Doha was a step for us for the Olympics.”

We Need to Show Our Best in Paris

The Spanish team is very strong, but thanks to the new rules, no one can predict exactly what the result will be in Paris. How does the Spanish coach see the Olympic field? "I don't think anyone knows what will happen. As the leader of the team, we have to focus on what we can control and show our best version in Paris".

Fujiki also told us that the Olympic Games are not only a challenge for the athletes, but also for the coaches: "Most of the times even in your sleep you still reviewing the routines, analysing the choreographies. As a coach you cannot relax in any moment it's going to be tense, and you can’t miss any second. You can't miss any second. You dedicate all your energy in details, you end up not one drop energy left feeling numb, but at the same time it's a great honor to be a leader of this super team.”