“It turned out that all my strength was spent on stress.” Surkova – on starting the swimming journey and being ‘nervous’

European short course swimming champion Arina Surkova in an interview with , she explained how over the years she has learned to cope with pre-race stress, why she is always so laconic in the mixed zone and the problem of weight gain.

— The main question, Arina, have you always been so silent?

– Yes, I am like that (laughs). I also try to stay calm in a work situation. When certain moments arise during training, I try to restrain myself and not show emotions – there are children swimming nearby, you cannot set a bad example for them.

— You are the calmest and most laconic person in the mixed doubles.

– And that’s because, as a rule, there is no time, – the swimming schedule is such that you don’t have time to do anything. When we go out, everything is short, everything is on the run. I don’t even have time to know what to say between two swims.

— Have you ever wanted to shorten your program?

– I thought about it. Besides, the situation with the relays is resolved, there are people who can replace me in the regional team and at the same time fight for high places. For personal distances, I sometimes sacrifice something, depending on the competition schedule, on my state of health. And even today, when there are no international competitions, loading remains even simpler.

—Where did you start swimming?

— Still in Novokuznetsk. But my coach moved to another country and advised us to train in Novosibirsk, with her friend. We actually moved because of it.

— Have you trained more often in a 25-meter pool?

– Yes, when I was little, it was mostly “quarter”, but when I arrived with my current coach, they started to swim more in “fifty”.

— Was it difficult to adapt to the new city?

— Basically, I quickly got used to it. Then she moved more than once – with and without her parents, when she entered the Olympic Reserve College.

—When were you first really noticed?

— When I was a teenager, I just went to competitions, no training camps, no nothing. As a junior she reached the European Championships. In fact, it’s probably this very moment. I made my first senior international debut for the national team in 2018, then competed in the first short course world championships in Hangzhou.

— Have you ever wanted to go to the United States to study and train?

– I never wanted to. I wanted to try to go to Europe, but now I don’t want to change anything, everything suits me. As for training in the USA – yes, they say a lot that their training is suitable for sprinters; If I had been younger, maybe it would have gone well, but now it would be difficult to get involved.

– What if you studied? You didn’t want to study for another job not related to sport?

— While I’m swimming, it would be difficult. But when the schedule becomes simpler, maybe.

— What are the areas that potentially interest you?

— I haven’t even thought about it yet. At school, when I was studying, learning a foreign language went well, everything else was not so great.

— Why did you decide to stay in Novosibirsk?

— Moscow is very noisy for me, not my city. Too picky. Here too, in Novosibirsk, it is very lively and the traffic jams are huge. But it’s more familiar here.

— Why aren’t you so active on social media?

— There isn’t much time – by the time you come back from training, you only have the strength to lie down. I don’t have time to take photos and post them. Just scroll through the feed and watch the stories. In general, I’m not a fan of posting everything and annoying people with it in other people’s feeds.

— Are you an aggressive person in sports?

– I do not want to say.

— We are now talking exclusively about sporting anger. Has your coach ever told you that you don’t have enough?

– Not now. When I was little I had such problems, then I was very calm, silent and didn’t talk much to anyone. Now, of course, I have changed in this regard and I no longer have attitude problems: I have matured, started living alone and learned to cope with many things.

— You are quite slender compared to the star sprinters from abroad. Have you ever wanted to become physically heavier or more powerful?

– It was, but it doesn’t work! My father is not tall either. He trained me in athletics. Plus, if you pump too much, it will be harder with hundreds.

— It doesn’t work, but there are no problems with being overweight!

— I have a problem with weight gain! I’m trying to eat more protein, I’ve studied this, I’ve read about it. At one point I managed to gain muscle mass, but then it all came back.

— But you haven’t managed to make friends over medium distance with such a constitution?

— Physiologically, I am still a sprinter. And my father is also a sprinter, master of sports of the USSR – he ran short distances.

– Obstacles ?

– Yes. I also had a moment where I was able to get into athletics.

—And, given our situation with athletics…

– Yes, I made the right decision here.

— Were the Tokyo Olympics stressful?

— At first, yes, but then I got used to it. In terms of organization, the Olympics are a start on a different scale, there is more enthusiasm around, and in terms of the sports component, it is basically the same, although, of course, everyone perceives this in his way. Some people tolerate it more easily, while others are shaken beyond belief. In general, I have already become calmer about the moments before starting.

– And before? Nervous?

— All my strength disappeared under this stress. Now I can handle this more easily. The ISL helped me in this area, where there were many good starts and equally tough opponents. In such conditions, each next trip far away becomes psychologically easier. You no longer think about all the nonsense, you go out peacefully.

— Do you turn off your phone on race day?

“I mostly just take it to check the time.”

— Regarding international departures, has the acceptance stage been completed?

– Yeah almost! Of course, I want to participate in international competitions, but here little depends on us.

On November 20, Arina Surkova will debut at the Russian Championship. Live broadcast of the championship races in the evening is broadcast on the channels of the Match holding company.