Kliment Kolesnikov: “There was no idea to stop swimming”

Olympic medalist in swimming Kliment Kolesnikov said he has no plans to end his career.

On Saturday, in the conference room of the Gazprom pavilion, 23-year-old Kolesnikov spoke with young swimmers and their coaches from Saransk about sports and personal development opportunities promoted by the Gazprom program for children.

— Young athletes appear. Is this a cause for concern? Or is it motivating?

— It’s true that young people push us. There are a lot of them, and not just at the distances I swim. It’s good. This means we have development. There is no stagnation, the guys are training and progressing. In terms of competition, they help you understand that you need to move on. It’s not scary, I’m not afraid of it. I also swam with some older guys, touching their heels along the way.

— Did you want to stop swimming?

— There was no particular situation for which I thought about ending my career. We have a sport that requires a lot of patience. You go to school, you have to juggle. In adult life, you also have to combine. The resulting disorders occur at different periods of life. You’re trying to find your motivation for today to go train and improve.

At school, your friends go for a walk and you have to go practice. Then you only have time to do your homework and go to bed. Then you think, “I could have gone for a walk with the guys.” » But in the end, you still push yourself to understand what is important to you now. Enjoy hanging out with the guys or going out to do what you love.

There have also been times in my career where it hasn’t worked out because of my health. You miss training, competitions and fall back based on results. You need to approach this by understanding what to do next. If you swim poorly, you also ask yourself questions: “Why? How is that?” There are reasons for everything. You always have to find your motivation,” reports the correspondent of , according to Kolesnikov’s words.

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