Kirill Abrosimov: “There are so few departures that we dream of them. But you can’t think of sad things all the time.

“Today in a dream I took part in the medal cup. Swimming to the shield, I saw that it was standing high. I rose above the water and I struck with my hand as quickly as possible to gain contact in the fight. In an instant I woke up and realized that I had finished not only in a dream, but also in real life in the header from Ksenia Abrosimova Ksyusha was not happy with such a finish in the middle of the night.

This post belongs to Abrosimov. Currently, Kirill is the most successful Russian marathon swimmer. Before the next start, he did not have to wait long – soon the Russian championship in open water swimming.

– So you dream of swimming?

It happened recently, yes. The day before, I watched the competition, maybe that’s why I had such a dream. There were so few starts that I was competing in my sleep.

– What did you notice while watching the competition?

– There are new names that are already clearly manifesting themselves. Those with whom I have competed for many years are slowly ending. Young people are coming – the national team of Germany, Hungary, France have guys who are already showing good results at a high level.

– Recently, Maria Lasitskene said with tears in her eyes that her international career was apparently over. Do you also live with this thought?

– I try to get away from such thoughts. It is impossible to constantly think about sad things. I try to put myself in working condition, to get along well psychologically and to continue to train. In times of discouragement, I try to switch and focus on the closest goals.

– You have an important event in the family – you became a dad.

“It changed my life. Now the main person in the family is the son. Now everything is planned differently. Previously, he could go to bed when he was tired, for example, at nine o’clock in the evening, but now you can’t – you have to wash your son and put him to bed.

– Why didn’t you participate in the Russian Championship in swimming pool?

– I had planned, but in the end we realized that it was better not to do it. There was not much time left before the Russian Open Water Championship, and less than a week of preparation is not desirable. So we decided to skip that start, do the amount of work required for open water.

What distances will you swim?

– At the international level, 25 km has been canceled, which means that we have canceled 16 km, on which we were previously selected for 25 km. Therefore, I will swim 5 and 10 km.

“Have you been to Rostov-on-Don?”

“I have never swum there.

— There will be fresh water. What suits you best: with or without waves?

– We will swim in the rowing channel, the water will be soft there. Basically, I don’t care. In this regard, I am universal. I am more sensitive to the authorized water temperature limits.

– I remember a video from the Russian Championship in Sukko, where you were chattering your teeth sitting in a tent.

– It was so! I wouldn’t say the water was as cold there as, say, Glasgow or the World Championships in Kazan. But he froze with chattering teeth!

– Are you trying to somehow resolve the history of competitive practice? Starts near open water have always been fewer, now even more.

– Unfortunately, in winter there was no possibility to compete. Previously we have traveled to Israel, United Arab Emirates and Qatar. There were other options and cool in hot places. Now there is no such opportunity, and to perform well in open water you have to constantly start in different conditions, feel that struggle. David Bethlehem is a young athlete who is now a good swimmer, for a few years he has been going through all the stages with Krysztof Raszowski. He had a lot of training in competition, he grew up on it – he gained a lot of experience competing internationally with the strongest athletes.

We don’t have any international competitions at all now. There is no feeling of how people swim in the world today: how the forces are distributed, what is the speed of the start of the distance, what is the middle and the finish. You can guess, but you cannot feel and analyze your abilities without participating with the stronger ones.

Focusing on the finish time of the leader in open water does not make sense, because there are always a number of factors that affect the course of the race.

At the moment I do not know how to solve this problem, by the way, in Russia you can swim only in summer.

– Have you tried to present yourself at amateur starts abroad during the winter season, perhaps to integrate yourself into the triathlon in one way or another?

– Last year I swam in Khanty in the summer, but it’s a different level of competition. I just sailed alone. Abroad, I have tried to find departures, but have not yet found suitable options.

– Will you try to look for options in the summer? There are many amateur competitions in Russia. Not invited?

– Maybe it’s strange, but they really don’t invite. The only time I was invited to X-WATERS Ugra was because my friend organized it. I went to support him and, in principle, swim.

– And you declare yourself. Surprise!

– What can I gain from this beginning? Due to the lack of competition, I still won’t be able to work on the tactical moments I need.

– And what to do?

– Hard to say. In this respect, our sport is experiencing this situation badly.

– What are your expectations regarding the competition in the Russian Championship?

– I saw that Alexander Stepanov broke the record for 800 meters freestyle in the pool. Happy for him. Went fine. Let’s see how it will show itself in open water. There are no expectations, I want to do my job well.

“What do you expect from the World Aquatics board meeting?”

I hope there will be positive decisions. I just want to believe that we will be entitled to the championships and the Olympic Games.

Are there still chances to qualify?

Our chance is Doha, early 2024. As long as chance and faith remain.

– What are the departures on the calendar, with the exception of the Russian championship?

– Two Russian Cups in open water with “five and ten” – before there was a distance. Plus, maybe, the Asian Games in the fall, which I really hope to attend.

– Two years did not swim at normal speed, then the Asian Games. Not scary?

As the pandemic has shown, there is no need to be afraid. Then I also worried about how I was going to swim after such a downtime, but when it all came back I realized that this problem was mostly in my head. You have to work and not despair. You have to believe in yourself.