Efimova: “I thought I would come back old and no longer need it. But it turned out that they love me and are waiting for me!

Three-time Olympic medalist and six-time world champion Yulia Efimova assessed her performance in the final heat of the 50-meter breaststroke at the Russian Short Course Swimming Championships in St. Petersburg.

Efimova took third place with a result of 29.95 seconds. The first was Evgenia Chikunova (29.54), the second was Belarusian athlete Alina Zmushko (29.66). The Russian record for this short course distance belongs to Efimova (29.08).

—You said you were the strongest breaststroke swimmers in Russia. Where have American women gone – the same Lilly King?

– They are there, but they are not as efficient. In general, I feel that I am now the main irritant. I even looked at the results of the Russian championship. There was only Chikunova there, and everyone else was far behind. And now I’m coming back – and as a result, everything has increased significantly!

— The last time there was such a stir in Russia around swimming was when Michael Phelps came to Moscow for the World Cup.

– You see, so many years have passed. I tell you, I didn’t expect such excitement. I thought I was going to come and stand aside, like a sick old woman, who no one needs anymore. But in the end, it turned out that everything was wrong. Of course, that makes me happy. It’s very nice to be loved and expected so much.

— Next year there will be important tournaments – the Friendship Games, the BRICS Games… It is said that at the Friendship Games the winner will receive almost 40 thousand dollars for first place . Is this an incentive that the contributions will be at the Olympic level?

“I haven’t thought about it yet.” Only now do I understand that, in principle, it is possible to perform at such a level. At first, I said to myself: okay, I’ll come back and we’ll see. There were long reflections. And now I understand that I can go back completely.

— How have you already participated in the World Cup stages and won money? This can now be done in Russia.

– Yes, yes, but for now I came to the thought: “I’ll come back. I will compete.” But I bet we are still planning to open a team and a school. Where? I don’t know for sure yet. But I would like to go to the Krasnodar region. It would be great in Sochi or Krasnodar But we are still in the development stage.

-Where is your favorite dog Jasper?

“During the final he would sit in the car in the parking lot and wait. Of course they walk with him. Then, they will watch the swimming. It’s a shame you can’t come to the pool with Jasper. I think he would be more popular here than me.

— You went to the start wearing a Spartak T-shirt. Are you keeping a close eye on the Abascal team?

— Whenever possible, I come to the stadium. And when they write to me that the match is very important for Spartak, I pay special attention to it. Sometimes you can watch. One day, my father and I were driving in a car. He was driving, I turned on the broadcast on my phone. He said, “Julia? Do you watch football?!” I said to him, “Now yes.” And you are immediately interested in watching when you already have friends and specifically support the team.

— If you divide the three distances at the Russian Championship, what does your priority look like?

— The 50m breaststroke is not an Olympic distance. But that’s still more or less what I can prepare for. Now I would say the main priority is 100m. Fifty dollars – the important thing here is that fast speed returns. And it’s basically a lottery. Something almost went wrong and you’re screwed. Maybe something will happen better at the hundred if I endure the second half,” Efimova told .

The Russian Championship takes place from November 20 to 25 in Saint Petersburg. Watch live broadcasts of the final series at these minutes on the channel, as well as on the sites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.