Let me tell you the story of how some random guys from Argentina one day took a plane (many actually) and went to Kazakhstan to compete the most prestigious programming contest in the world.

Everything started in 2019 when one day the ones that were going to end up being our coaches did a talk about how they got to travel to Portugal because they participated in a programming contest (something I have never heard before). But that day, that day... something inside me told me I was going to do the same.

Some years passed training basically by myself until one day I received a message from Fede, inviting me to join their team. A team that then would be named "Fruta Fresca" (Fresh Fruit), months passed, problems passed, training camps passed. Until one day arrived our first regional competition as a team. Not our best day, but some brilliance from JP on the problem that gave us hope and put us on the verge of qualification. Without knowing it would not be the last time Fruta Fresca had to suffer after a competition because of being too close from qualifying.

After some hours and some post-contest beers we got the news that we were qualified to Mexico to the "Latin American Programmers Competition". That night everything was alright as we say in Argentina "We were as happy as a dog with two tails".

Us that day, please give your opinion on my hairstyle.

Knowing that you are travelling to an international competition, is an extra pressure that we canalize through training, we dedicated countless hours to training simulating competitions and upsolving, we travel to Brazil for a training camp (can't say that wasn't fun), it required effort but with the right people around you everything can be fun.

This is in Brazil, us simulating

And... We travel to Mexico! The competition was held in Guadalajara, a nice city full of history. We spent the days before the competition basically eating only tacos for dinner and lunch. The day of the competition was a rollercoaster of emotions. It started with amazement as you realize everything you are experiencing. During the contest I got stuck on a problem after some WA's I was a bundle of nerves I couldn't get myself together, it was a sensation I have never experienced in my life I was shaking and fighting against my mind. Luckily my teammates were there for me and help me not only to solve the problem but also to get back on track. To this day I am still grateful to had them as my teammates, I just want to say that practicing and training is important but having a strong team bond will take you far.

Official team photo

Well, we went to the closing ceremony devastated thinking we had the worst contest of our life (which we probably had, well at least me). After the saddest hour of my life watching the ceremony, a friend did some calculations on the final standings and we realized we were (again) on the verge of qualifying. The problem? We didn't know how many spots there were, and we wouldn't know for the next two days. You can imagine how long was that waiting until a message arrived saying that... WE WERE GOING TO KAZAKHSTAN!!! That, was one of the greatest moments of my life I could not process what I was happening. So, we had qualified, we needed to celebrate and we were in Mexico. What better idea than going to Cancún. It was an amazing trip, these kinds of things are also what make doing CP so rewarding.

Us on vacation with some Uruguayan friends

What do you do after you know you are going to a World Final? Easy, you keep practicing, on July that year we went two weeks to the Argentinian Training Camp. And on September 2024, it finally arrived, after spending some days in Turkey, a delayed (almost lost) plane in some random Kazakh town, we landed on Astana. Being on a ICPC WF is an incredible experience, you feel that you made it. Everything is so well put together and you get to meet some of the most brilliant people in the world, it's really amazing and being part of it is just unforgettable. I'm incredibly grateful to have lived this experience.

Official team photo

To conclude I just wanna say that dreams are meant to come true, fight for them and don't give up. Also I wanna thank all the people that were part of this process without them this wouldn't have been possible, thanks.