Paula Ramírez Ibáñez is a Spanish artistic swimmer, a member of the national team, and a bronze medalist at the latest Olympic Games. In this interview, Paula shares her experience in the Master in Sport Business Online program
At 29, Paula Ramírez Ibáñez is one of the most prominent figures in Spanish artistic swimming. Throughout her career, she has won some of the world’s most prestigious competitions — from an Olympic bronze medal in Paris 2024 to multiple medals at World and European Championships.
Alongside her athletic career, Paula completed the Master in Sport Business Online at Johan Cruyff Institute. Despite her limited time due to training and competitions, she successfully finished the program: “It actually helped me disconnect a bit from the synchro world and my routines,” she explains.
In this interview, Paula reflects on her academic experience, explains how she managed to balance sports and studies, and shares her thoughts on the current state of artistic swimming.
What lessons from your sports career do you think are most transferable to the field of sports management?
First of all, since I do a team sport, organization is essential. My discipline also requires many hours of training. All my life — not only now in the master’s or at university but since school — I’ve had to manage my time very efficiently.
Because I had so little time, I had to be effective. So I think one of the main things I’ve learned is to make the most of my study time. It’s not easy, but it has helped me a lot during the master’s.
“I also think that in the master’s you often have to take initiative — create a company or a project, because it’s much more than just taking exams.”
Thanks to my experience in sports, I’m less afraid of challenges, so I’ve felt more confident about launching new projects. And the creativity from my sport has definitely helped me too.
How did you manage to combine training, competitions, and academic life?
At first, it was a bit difficult. The first few months — the adjustment period — coincided with the Olympic year. So there were countless hours of training and a lot of physical and mental fatigue. I was exhausted, which made it hard to focus on learning new things or dedicating much time to projects and assignments.
But honestly, I liked it from the very beginning. It actually helped me disconnect a bit from the synchro world and my routines. I used Sundays for studying; it was fun to work on projects and learn new things.
Once I got used to the work methodology, I started to understand when I studied best. I discovered that Sunday afternoons, for example, were my quietest moments — when I was home, more relaxed, and could focus better on the master’s.
What would you highlight as the most useful aspect for your personal or professional development?
Something I really liked was the encouragement of creativity. For example, when we had to do a finance or marketing project, we didn’t necessarily have to analyze a specific company — we had a lot of freedom. I could choose which company to study, and I always picked projects that truly interested me.
“During these months of study, I’ve taken the opportunity to read more about the Olympic Committee, which has always fascinated me.”
I’ve also studied sports brands I admire and learned even more about them. What I’ve enjoyed the most is that freedom — being able to study and develop projects in the way that best suited us.
Was there any project or subject that you particularly enjoyed?
In general, I’m better at event and project management — or people management — than at the financial side of business. What I liked the most was the final project.
And I don’t just mean the final thesis itself, which I’m also proud of, but the process. Throughout the master’s, we were building a puzzle piece by piece, with each subject contributing a small part. That way, the final project was the result of all those smaller steps we learned along the way.
From your perspective as an athlete and now as a graduate in sports management, what do you think are the main challenges facing the sports industry — and artistic swimming in particular?
Although many people say that sports and politics shouldn’t mix, I believe they are connected — we represent countries and have a platform to send messages to the world. In our team, we try to inspire people — to make them look at us not only for how we perform in the water but also for who we are and the responsibility we carry.
Our sport is also fighting for equality — to include more men in the discipline. I’ve learned from other federations, and I believe some of those lessons can be applied to ours. It’s a large federation, but there are still many projects to develop.
How do you imagine applying your sports management knowledge after your athletic career?
I’m very curious and like to be involved in different areas, so I’m not entirely sure where life will take me.
One of my dreams has always been to work at the International Olympic Committee in Switzerland — that’s been a goal of mine for years. I’m also interested in athlete management and developing my own projects, like my master’s final project: a sports center surrounded by nature, combining physical activity and outdoor experiences.
The idea is to make sports more accessible to people while integrating it with nature — another one of my passions. I think it could be a very interesting project and could become a reality in the future.
What advice would you give to other athletes considering studying to prepare for their professional transition?
Honestly, I’d say that I’m extremely happy with this master’s. I had my doubts at first — I was worried it might be too focused on football, basketball, or other sports less related to mine.But I truly loved it. I’ve learned so much.
“I was able to make the master’s my own and tailor the learning experience to what interested and motivated me most. And I loved the professors.”
It’s been a great experience, and I would definitely recommend taking this step. I feel that the Master’s has prepared me to work on any project within the sports industry.
