Sotnikov on Paralympic silver medal: “On the first day, because of the full stands, I was even confused”

Russian swimmer Vladimir Sotnikov told that he did not yet know how to manage such noise in the stands as at the Paris Games.

Sotnikov finished second in the 100m backstroke (S13) at the Paris Paralympic Games.

“I’m not completely satisfied with the way I swam, I haven’t figured out the technique yet, I’m not very good with seconds.” I tried to swim on a par with Igor Bokim (Belarusian swimmer, 18-time Paralympic Games winner – rating), but I didn’t have enough strength in the second half.

— Is he a motivation for you?

– Sure, yes. It would be too easy if you went out and beat everyone. There’s someone to follow, there’s something to work on.

— Is this kind of support from the stands energizing?

– Unusual. In Tokyo, there were empty stands and it was not too noisy; you could hear our guys cheering. And now you hear the names of the French people shouting, and in general, such noise and such magnitude are unusual.

– So you must be able to handle this?

– Certainly. The first day I was surprisingly lost. A filled Swimming Pool is on a completely different scale.

— Do you need to fill the stands at the Russian Championships and train in swimming in front of a full house?

– Yes, for sure. Few people come to the Russian Championship. Guys who are more resistant to stress are better able to cope with the big support from the stands, I also seemed to cope with it today, but we still need to figure out what went wrong along the way, “Sotnikov told .

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