Swimming world record holder Evgenia Chikunova participated in an international competition for the first time in two years: the BRICS Games in South Africa. She shared her impressions of Durban with .
— How did you perceive the story of the need to fly to Durban? Still, October is not the most common time of the season to compete.
“I was very, very happy.”
—Have you stayed too long?
– Yes. Not such a confident “yes”, but I still wanted to compete and see something new. When I found out I could go, I was all for it.
—How did you fly there?
— First of all, we flew from St. Petersburg to Moscow and, despite the fact that we took a ticket with a normal connection, due to the flight delay we literally ran to be transferred to a another terminal. We tried to do everything as quickly as possible. And the airport staff helped us, as well as the team leader, so together we managed to get on a plane to Doha, and from there we flew to Johannesburg and Durban. In total, it was about eighteen hours of flight time. But I’ve never regretted it, and what’s more, I love long flights, they have their own atmosphere.
— There were photos in swimsuits on the beach. That is, you managed to swim not only in the pool?
“I climbed into waist-deep water and, as I am very afraid of swimming in open bodies of water, I ran out of the ocean screaming. The ocean water, which was amazing, turned out to be warmer than the pool on the first day.
— Tell me about the swimming pool.
— From what I understand, it had only just opened for competitions after the winter, so when we arrived there were no shields or tracks yet. It all seemed closer to departures.
—Weren’t you upset for a second? Clearly October is not the time to show the best results, but it is probably still disappointing to see slow results.
— After the “hundred”, to be honest, I was a little upset because I hadn’t swum 100 m in 1 minute 8 seconds for a long time. Even though I won, when I saw the seconds I was upset, then I realized it was because of the long flight. At the end, in the relay, I already swam 1 minute 6 seconds.
— Did you see anything other than the ocean and the swimming pool?
— During the opening and closing, we had time to get in touch with the culture. On the day of departure, we went to the shopping center.
— The traditional story of athletes during competitions and at McDonald’s?
“It was in the plans, but it didn’t look very good in the mall.” We decided not to go there. But the way we were fed at the hotel was ten out of ten. Never in my life did I think I would have treats for lunch, dinner and breakfast.
—Did the coach restrict you?
– No, she didn’t tell me I should eat less. I will monitor this myself. I gained 1 kg, it’s nothing at all.
— You are now rare guests in international competitions, how did you communicate with other teams?
— Regarding communication in Durban, I am ready to cry with happiness. Everyone was as friendly and open as possible. We communicated quite calmly with the South Africans and the Chinese. It was simply incredible. Every day was like paradise: the weather was nice, the atmosphere was good, everyone supported each other. Infinitely positive emotions, and I would happily perform in South Africa again.
– And after? Russian Championship?
– Yes.
— Do you like short water?
— For three or four years I answered that during the long water season I like long waters, during the short season I like short waters, but now, having participated in the “fifty kopeck”, I I don’t really want to swim short water anymore. But I will approach this as responsibly as possible. I have something to achieve, I have motivation and I hope everything works out.
— I know another breaststroke swimmer who doesn’t really like short course, but who is going to participate in the Russian Championships. How did you receive the news of Yulia Efimova’s return?
– I am for ! Julia is a fighter. She is very, very competitive. And if it reaches good speeds, it will only be a plus for me, because to a certain extent I miss the 200m fight, so it will be even more interesting and spectacular. And it will be interesting to see how this all plays out. I don’t even know if I could go back to his situation. She is awesome.
Source : MatchTV
I’m John White and I’m an experienced journalist working in the news industry. My specialty is covering sports news, which I’ve been doing for over 6 years now. During this time, I have worked as an author with Athletistic, a popular online news website focusing on sports topics.
