Yulia Efimova: “I missed swimming. I’m going to play to sum up my career beautifully.

When did we last communicate with Yulia Efimova? And it was in the summer of 2021 in Tokyo, where the famous athlete was participating in her fourth Olympic Games.

More than two years have passed, Yulia deliberately went into the shadows, refused to be interviewed, but we did not bother. What can we talk about if our athletes do not participate in international competitions, and Efimova herself lives in America?

So Julia returned to Russia. I went to Moscow for football, for hockey, again for football. After the cup match between Spartak and Dynamo, we spoke with Efimova just outside the VIP area of ​​the Otkritie Bank Arena. And football fans approached her and asked to be photographed with the words “You are our pride!” », « You are our champion! », « May you succeed! “.

And it was clear how nice it was for Yulia, how much she missed that attention.

From this interview with Efimova, you will learn:

“I like hockey a little more than football”

– Do you often go to football?

– I was at football a week ago, when Spartak and Zenit were playing (1:3). It was my first time and the game against Dynamo (4:1) was my second. Now I have many more impressions. Although I was still a bit late, I saw two Spartak goals. I liked the game.

Who were you worried about?

– Actually, before that, I didn’t know football at all. It just happened and my father never started this sport. We watched more hockey, basketball, boxing. But football is absolutely not.

So I abandoned this thread. But sometimes I watched the World Cup. But I don’t know much about the club system. Although now she supported Spartak. I’m already becoming a fan little by little, I’m coming to their second match. Besides, the club invited me. So now, yes, along the way, I will be a Spartak fan.

– After the game, did you go out on the pitch and talk to anyone?

– A week ago I was given a Spartak T-shirt – without autographs, but with my last name. And now I met Spartak goalkeeper Alexander Selikhov. He gave me a T-shirt autographed by the whole team. It’s really very nice!

– You can get to one of the departures by swimming in it.

– Unless there is a conflict in terms of advertising.

“Where did you go in Moscow?”

– I went to hockey on Sunday – in Megasport there was the final of the Mayor’s Cup, and CSKA played there with Spartak (1: 3). I liked it a lot!

– Starting hockey?

— To be honest, I like it a little more than football. But these are associations with childhood. And I understand hockey better. Subscriber to the Telegram channel @LysenkovTV, I follow the news. It’s closer and more understandable to me. And the music is interesting in the arena and in the dance. Naturally, after the NHL, you can kind of compare. But I really liked the atmosphere of the game between Spartak and CSKA. It was fun, we scored good goals and Spartak won again.

– Did you go to NHL games when you lived in America?

– Yes, yes, I went there, I very often visited Tampa games.

– Are you still going to Spartak football?

– Let’s see. Now I have another week off. And then you have to work. And all events will come to an end, both football and hockey. Training will begin and it will be very difficult to get out somewhere.

“I want to compete at the end of the year in the Russian Championship”

— What are your closest projects? How long have you been in Russia?

– For a long time. Until December of course. Maybe something will change one way or the other. But I missed you a lot. Lots of things need to be done now. And I’m glad to be back home.

“Can we count on you to train you?”

– Yes, I decided that even if there were no international departures, I wanted to organize the last competitions for me in order to sum up my career nicely.

– And even if there is a small chance for the Olympics. You have to prepare!

– Yes. And even if we don’t have the Olympics, I will prepare. Because I decided that I would dedicate this year to training.

“Will it be in Moscow?”

– Right now – in Volgodonsk, in my city where I grew up. It’s really, really tough right now with all the moving and everything. Especially since my father is a coach there. And I decided that right now there is no coach that suits me better. And there are also some young people with whom it will simply be possible to organize sparring.

– Which tournament do you favor then? Russian Spring Championship?

– Yes. But it will first be an end-of-year tournament. The Russian championship also takes place there, but in short waters. As soon as I try there I will take a closer look. Is it worth it (laughs)? Then I will perform in April and possibly in December. It’s true, I’m not really a “floater” in a short pool. You see, I haven’t given an interview for several years, so some words are already falling.

– And if they let you go to the Olympics, then you have to perform well in the spring to go to Paris?

— Yes, the selection system is not changing. You have to meet the standard. Now I will start exercising. I kept my form, but I didn’t work a lot. Of course, I swam and I did a lot of things. For example, I started doing yoga. And now, let’s see. We’ll start small, then we’ll go to the tournament in December, April and maybe the Olympics. That would be absolutely awesome.

– What about Evgenia Chikunova, 18, who set a new world record by swimming the 200m breaststroke in 2 minutes 17.55 seconds in long water. Surprised by this hour?

– No, I was not surprised. It made me happy. And it’s very disappointing that I was preparing this particular layout, exactly at 2’17, even when I started training with David Salo. He said right away at that moment that I was ready for such a result. And that’s what I’ve been training for all my life.

So I knew it was possible. But I did not succeed in any way, but Chikunova did, and she is very smart. Now I wait, it will be very interesting to compete.

– Foreign swimmers have asked you: “Wow, how did this Russian swim”? What was the reaction?

– To be honest, it is currently a very difficult time to communicate with foreign athletes. But there are Serbs…

– And what do they say?

– “Yes, well done, great.” To be honest, I’m amazed where such motivation comes from – to train like that if you don’t compete at international level… I had a difficult period of a year and a half to two years. It’s really difficult without international departures. And the fact that Chikunova did that is just great. It shows his character.

“I understood that in America I would be like a red flag the whole trip”

– Is it prestigious to go to your fifth Olympic Games?

– Other people also participated, I know a lot of them. I think that’s already a great achievement – ​​just to qualify and go to the Games. But of course, as usual, we will have a maximum program. Even if everyone understands that now a lot of things no longer depend on us, the athletes.

– You didn’t have the opportunity to train in the USA?

– It didn’t make any sense. When all this happened, I trained and found myself in very good shape. But then, somehow, it all happened, and it doesn’t seem to make any sense. I had a pretty tough time emotionally. It was very frustrating not being able to participate in international competitions and helplessness set in.

This attitude has persisted with us for many years. Now only louder than usual. I probably needed this emotional and physical release. And now, at this moment, I just realized that I missed you. And no matter what people say about my age, I really like doing it. I miss swimming, competitions, this environment. That’s why I come to Spartak football, where the fans are… Damn, it’s so exciting! What energy! I miss it, so I’m not going to finish yet.

– And in America, it was possible to play in open amateur tournaments? Or were they not allowed too?

– In some early days, it was possible to talk. But to be honest, there was a lot of pressure. I know this personally, I have been living this for a long time. And now I just didn’t want to get into it. I understood that I would be like a red flag for the whole trip, especially American. Although I have lived there for a long time, I have been training for a long time, I know many athletes and coaches. And they seem to treat me well. But in public, it is much more difficult.

– In other words, you did not go to these departures.

– Yes. I pretty much understood what was going to happen. There were a few messages from foreign colleagues when it all started. And it was clear that I could be accepted in public.

– We started with football-hockey, and we will end there. Who will become champion in 2024 in the KHL and the RPL?

– If it’s hockey, then maybe Kazan will win the Gagarin Cup? In addition, Ak Bars also invited me to their matches several times. Sorry, you couldn’t come. And in football, I know that Zenit won the Russian championship five times. But of course, I would like to believe in Spartak!