Malen Sart (Spetton), Spanish spearfishing champion, is one of the most outstanding figures in the national and international panorama of this demanding sport. With a trajectory that began in 2006, Malen has won two world titles being part of the Spanish national team, and has demonstrated her talent in multiple regional and national championships. Beyond her sporting achievements, she is also dedicated to spreading the values of sport and respect for the sea among young people, participating in educational programs on her native island, Mallorca.
Valentina Prokic: When and how did your passion for spearfishing begin?
Malen Sart: I started in the summer of 2006, using a short-sleeved, hoodless wetsuit and a small speargun. I caught my first fish without believing it. It was all easy because I already knew this sport after many years as a boatman with my partner Sebastià. Besides, I had always loved the sea and since I was a child I already had fins, mask and snorkel to go to the beach or the rocks. Since that summer, the evolution was continuous, because I could no longer conceive going to the sea without a speargun in my hands.
Techniques and Favorite Captures
VP: What are your favorite spearfishing techniques and what kind of fish do you like to catch?
Malen Sart: I like to fish in shallow and medium depths, between 0 and 20 meters, at a strong pace if possible. And I don’t care if the water is crystal clear or dirty, because I adapt my fishing to my favorite techniques, such as waiting and agguato, which I often combine. Also, if necessary, I combine it with hole fishing, when there is no abundance of fish in open water. As for my favorite fish, for me, the dentex is the king piece, for its elegance and strength, and because it is not easy to get good catches of this animal, at least in Mallorca. Other fish that I like to catch are amberjack, barracuda, sea bream, and when I fish in the hole, I like to look for scorpion fish.
VP: What has been your most special and emotional capture, and could you tell us a little bit about it?
Malen Sart: I remember different moments of catching fish that were precious to me, not only for their size, but for the action itself. I guess one of these was my first size dentex, 3.6 kg, caught one day with rough seas and dirty water in shallow water, combining a stalk that ended in a wait that paid off. Later I have caught other dentex weighing up to 5 kg, catches that generally always leave a nice memory in the retina. There have been other precious pieces for me, such as a 3kg sea bass in Mallorca, on a day and place where I was reluctant to swim from land, and in the end, despite the cold of the day and the dirty water, the sea gave me this beautiful fish. Fortunately, there are already a few casts that you remember with affection and passion, because that’s what it is, with time, precious moments of our passion well executed that remain in your memory.
Competitions and National Team
VP: When did you start competing and why do you like to compete?
Malen Sart: In our fishing club, Perlas Manacor, I was already participating in the social event since 2008 or 2009, but I really started to compete officially encouraged by my husband Sebastià, who offered me to compete together to participate in the Master of Palma 2013 by teams. And from then on, I continued with the individual and team men’s regionals in the Balearic Islands, since there was still no competition or women’s participation. In 2015, we were runners-up in the Balearic Islands by teams and I remember that we went to the National team competition in Gijón, which was my first experience at the National level, accompanied by Sebastià and another clubmate, Jordi Ferrer. I also remember that one of the people who most influenced me to compete was our dear friend Tomeu Salas, a great spearfisher and renowned coach of the Spanish national team, who always encouraged me from my beginnings until now, and has given me valuable advice. The reason for the competition and why I like it is probably because it has been a natural process for me. My husband Sebastià already competed and I, in all occasions, trainings and competitions, accompanied him in the boat, as a boatwoman and helper. Besides, since I was a child, I already knew the world of competition, with basketball, in which I competed for 30 years. Therefore, I already knew about discipline, work, commitment, self-improvement, motivation, etc. These values were easy to adopt in spearfishing, even though it was an individual sport. Another of the great gifts of competing in spearfishing, is to have met and shared passion and work with other people, great friends, who as athletes are extraordinary for their humility, passion, work capacity and generosity, values that as people magnifies them and motivates you to follow in their footsteps.
VP: What are your next plans in terms of competitions? The National?
Malen Sart: At the moment, we are getting in shape for the next National to be held in the waters of Tenerife at the end of June. This spring in Mallorca, has been quite irregular in terms of weather, and we have not been able to go to train as much as we would have liked, but now it is time to tighten the training process and gradually arrive in good physical condition and motivation to this next event in the National of Tenerife.
VP: You are part of the Spanish national team and have two world titles. What are your personal impressions and expectations regarding the national team? Are you going to continue competing with the national team?
Malen Sart: As for the team of athletes of the national team, Spain is fortunate to have great athletes who are able to adapt to all types of seas and conditions. And it is here where the coaches have the hardest time to design the selectionThe coaches have the hardest time to choose from among the athletes those who will make up the final team. The technicians perform a great and difficult task, often invisible or little appreciated, and in the final result, has an important part due to a previous or continuous work of these, like the one that athletes do to arrive in top form to the appointment. As for continuing with the national team competing, for my part it will depend on how I go and feel this year competing. But in any case, that final decision, as I explained before, depends mainly on the coaching staff of the national team, that they count on me and that I am worthy of being part of the national team.
Years with Spetton
VP: You are a Spetton athlete, what Spetton products do you particularly like?
Malen Sart: We have had a relationship with Spetton for more than ten years, a relationship with the brand, which in addition to providing us with all the necessary material that they have available, over time has been consolidated as a relationship of friendship and mutual affection. There are no absurd demands on either side, and particularly for me, it makes it easier to focus on my training and competitions without any pressure, a circumstance that facilitates this relationship with Spetton World and its sales team. As for the products I particularly like from Spetton, I carry exactly what I need, stuff I’ve become accustomed to and naturalized in using, from the rifles Rebel Carbon and very high quality rubbers, the suits gum and micropores, the carbon finsfins, or any of their precious masksamong other items. Spetton is a very competitive brand, in that besides being a Spanish brand and company (which honors me), it is in a continuous process of evolution, with new materials, or with modifications on previous articles that improve it, besides being a brand economically affordable for all pockets.
Education and Values of the Sea
VP: Are you visiting schools and talking to children about the sea and spearfishing?
Malen Sart: Yes, this year, 2025, thanks to the opportunity given to me by the Consell Insular de Mallorca (the island government of our island) to be part of its program “Valors de l’Esport” (“Values of Sport”). , along with other outstanding athletes in different disciplines, I am giving some speaches in schools, in which in addition to publicize a sport largely unknown by all, such as spearfishing, also try to instill in young people and children, the values of sport, applicable also to life in general. It is curious that Mallorca, being the cradle of spearfishing champions(Joan Gomis won the first world championship for Spain in 1961, and later Amengual, Carbonell and Marchwould follow), is a very unknown discipline in terms of how it should be done and practiced. Many people believe, and not only minors, that it is done breathing with bottles and not free lung, and that it is very easy to catch fish. I always try to instill in children and young people three concepts that are clear to me: spearfishing is selective, sustainable and supportive. I also insist on the danger of our sport, on the safety of how we do it being at sea and our limits, and the risks that the sea entails today, such as adverse weather, or irresponsible maritime traffic. On the other hand, I talk about the awareness of conservation and respect for the sea, which seems paradoxical for a spearfisherman, but we are the first to see fish that are vulnerable because of their size or reproductive moment and we choose not to catch them (because of the selectivity of our sport), or we become aware of the great pollution in the sea, especially the large amounts of plastics found in the waters of our seas. There is no exit to the sea in which we do not collect remains of plastic, containers, cans, etc… discarded unconsciously or not, by the human being.
