Upfront with Daida Moreno
Severne rider Daida Moreno needs no introduction with a lifetime of experience on the water and countless titles. In this interview, she gives us an insight into her new life as a mother and her journey to where she is today.
Back on the water after birth of son Axel and a new daily routine. How has it been like?
Axel arrived at our lives after two years trying with doctors. After going through cancer I never lost my hope to became a mom, and even though it has been a hard road, we are now a happy family.
My pregnancy was also really hard with lots of rest and could not do any exercises just some walking. It became even harder with the lockdown due to COVID, giving birth in a hospital with lots of people with the virus. I gave birth one month before the time due to the type of pregnancy I had and to avoid putting mine and Axel’s life at risk. I had the C section on April 9th, and after 5 weeks I started doing some exercises for my pelvic floor and slowly started sailing seven weeks after giving birth. Three months later I continue sailing every day and slowly getting stronger. I don’t really feel like before at all, but this will be just a matter of time and effort. For now, my daily routine is breastfeeding, windsurfing and working with the physiotherapy clinic I am building and my studies
How was it to get back into the water after several months without sailing?
It was an amazing feeling. We scored some starboard tack sailing in May and after each ride, I had to take deep breathing to continue sailing ;-). My hands got wide open but it was the best feeling in the world.
Last year you only competed on the PWA event Pozo for clear reasons. How hard was it to watch the rest of the tour from the sideline and not compete together with your sister?
Yeap, in 2018 I did only two events (Pozo and Tenerife), then I couldn’t go to Sylt because I was pregnant… I had another 3 losses after this. I was not sure I was going to compete in Pozo last year, just one month before I had another loss, but even though I was not in shape I decided to compete last minute. It mentally helped me announce I was not going to do more events that year. I guess to be mentally ready and without the stress of the competitions, helped me to get pregnant again.
For the past 8-9 years, you and your sister have been organizing the PWA event in Gran Canaria together with your team. Unfortunately, it had to be cancelled due to COVID19 this year. How was this experience from an organisers point of view?
To cancel this year’s event was a really hard decision. We followed the news every day and it was far from encouraging. After talking to the sponsors of the event and looking at all scenarios I think we did a strong exercise of responsibility. We couldn’t apply any protocol to avoid contagious, riders coming from all over the world, without test or having the tent working. I just hope there is a solution soon and we can work something for next year, there is still a lot to learn from ourselves (how we face this) and the virus. The Canary Islands are working on an action protocol to ensure every life involved in all the sports events is safe. For now, all the sports events in the Canary Islands has been postponed (until November or December where it obviously wasn’t possible due to the trade winds) or cancelled until next year.
Any tips to aspiring windsurfing and athlete moms out there?
Uff, this is a hard question. I am fortunate to live right in front of the sea, and can easily jump in the water previous some organization and obvious help with the baby. This could be a good tip ;-). No, but seriously, every family is a world. To be a mother and windsurfer is not the same than being a dad. First the physical scars after giving birth, then breastfeeding… there is still a lot to learn, so I am also happy to hear tips from other mams around the world 😉
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