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Peru’s Bello tracing father’s footsteps at Youth Olympics

Peru’s Samantha Bello delivered a harsh self-assessment of her first performance at the 2018 summer Youth Olympics here.

The 15-year-old daughter of Johnny Bello, considered one of Peru’s greatest ever swimmers, was eliminated from the 200m freestyle after clocking 2 minutes 4.95 seconds in her heat on Thursday, Xinhua news agency.

“My time wasn’t good. I beat my personal record, but I didn’t meet my expectations because I wanted to finish in 2:03,” Bello said.

“I’m always trying to improve my times and I’m very competitive. When I don’t get the time I expect, I get a little angry,” she added.

Her father, Johnny Bello, won several Peruvian national titles and narrowly missed a medal at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico during a decorated swimming career.

Samantha, who has also represented Peru at the world junior championships, said she hopes to improve on her dad’s achievements in the pool.

“I would like to surpass what my dad accomplished,” Bello said. “I want to go further and push to win it all. I think that that is everybody’s objective, to improve what they have done before. If you set yourself to do it, you can succeed.”

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