Swimmer Belonogoff: “In Russia, the selection for the team is objective. In the UK, even if you win awards it doesn’t mean anything.

Russian swimming champion Tatiana Belonogoff told that she considers the Russian national team selection system more transparent than in the UK.

Belonogoff won gold in the 50m breaststroke at the recent Russian championships. Previously, the athlete competed for Great Britain.

— I was a little surprised by your story about the selection criteria for the Great Britain team, that they weren’t that clear and you didn’t like it.

— In Russia, our selection is objective. For example, in 2019, I won prizes in short courses, they immediately told me that “she will be able to go to Europe”, even though the change in sports citizenship has not yet been officially confirmed. It was a shock for me. In the UK, even if you win prizes, it means absolutely nothing. Then they choose anyway. And their standards are much higher than those of World Aquatics.

— Ours were also higher.

“But, as you understand, their standards are higher than the country’s records.” I was told that last year, so few people completed them, they got softer. This year, the standards are lower, but only 30 people are accepted onto the team. “I have a bad attitude towards the British Swimming Federation, maybe there are good times there, but when I swam there I didn’t notice them,” Belonogoff told .

The Russian swimming championship ended on April 19 in Kazan. Live broadcasts of the tournament took place on the channels of the Match holding company and on the sites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.