What Andrea Fuentes has said about Coaching and leadership

Fuentes argued that team trust depends on transparency that must begin with the leader.

“it starts from the leader um because if you ask for transparency but you don't give it it's never gonna happen”

Tomorrow, Today: Andrea Fuentes: Olympic Medals, Failure, Leadership & Finding Purpose | Shekhar Natarajan (Oct 17, 2026) · Listen from 20:38

Fuentes said that after her athletes rejected the Olympic goal, they adopted the motto 'grow together' and she removed the Olympic flags from the pool.

“grow together that was the phrase and so i removed all the olympic flags from the pool which was the motivation”

Tomorrow, Today: Andrea Fuentes: Olympic Medals, Failure, Leadership & Finding Purpose | Shekhar Natarajan (Oct 17, 2026) · Listen from 55:30

Fuentes concluded that the team's results came from focusing on daily growth, with the outcome not being the goal.

“And the outcome was the results, but it was not the goal”

Tomorrow, Today: Andrea Fuentes: Olympic Medals, Failure, Leadership & Finding Purpose | Shekhar Natarajan (Oct 17, 2026) · Listen from 57:38

Fuentes said the key to her coaching success is love for her athletes.

“I think the key is love, and I'm not afraid to say it”

Tomorrow, Today: Andrea Fuentes: Olympic Medals, Failure, Leadership & Finding Purpose | Shekhar Natarajan (Oct 17, 2026) · Listen from 1:14:59

Fuentes said that because her own coach discouraged questions, she resolved always to explain the reasons behind training as a coach.

“when I will be a coach, I will always explain why”

Tomorrow, Today: Andrea Fuentes: Olympic Medals, Failure, Leadership & Finding Purpose | Shekhar Natarajan (Oct 17, 2026) · Listen from 1:20:42

Fuentes said the most important quality for an elite athlete is the combination of humility and ambition.

“the combination of humility and ambition maximum of both because this makes you want to learn more”

Tomorrow, Today: Andrea Fuentes: Olympic Medals, Failure, Leadership & Finding Purpose | Shekhar Natarajan (Oct 17, 2026) · Listen from 1:27:25