Ivan Kozhakin, the Russian swimming champion, achieved neutral status simply by submitting his application to World Aquatics. The process took five days, but he was granted this long-term status in order to compete at the World Championships in Singapore in 2025.
— Were you born in Magadan?
— Yes, I am already the third generation from Magadan. You could say he is aboriginal.
— What do you have for swimming in Magadan?
— The first “district” appeared in 1967, this date is written at the bottom of the swimming pool. When I swim, I see her and my heart races: we always train in this pool! In 2018-2020, we built standard structures, they are more intended for commerce, so that the population can come and play sports. There are many standard swimming pools and a large presidential building has also been built.
There were big plans, they were waiting for a swimming pool of European standards, but in the end they focused on a hockey rink of KHL standards, and the finances were divided between the swimming pool and the water park. As a result, the category B swimming pool was transformed into a category C swimming pool. The depth is 1.7 m, the width of the path is 2 m instead of 2.5 m. It’s beautiful, with nice tables, but overall it’s like a Chinese place. counterfeit.
It is a good swimming pool for children and for primary education. I even talked about it at the opening. But we expected a breeding ground for high-level athletes. So I’m training in quarter 1967. We’re waiting for fifty dollars. As Alexei Yurievich Bashin said, when they built the “fifty kopecks” in Obninsk, the results immediately increased. And I also understand that to boost results, you need a 50 m swimming pool. I plan to swim and swim again. I hope I can wait for our “fifty dollars” to show up.
—In theory, you should be the king of the short waters.
– But no. I prefer to swim in big waters, there are fewer technical elements that are difficult for me to master in Magadan. We have stone and tile nightstands, and when I turn them over, I scrape the bottom with my feet. Low water is a technical story; I lose to our breaststroke behemoths in these elements. But I’m trying to catch up.
— Where do you get them? Are you going anywhere to train?
— We train in Magadan, but about a week later we come to Moscow or Obninsk to acclimatize. In Obninsk, they already welcome us like family, we love training there. Let’s be adaptable and competitive. We have never been to Krugloye or Kabardinka. But now Andrei Gennadievich Shishin sent me materials in the form of a collection so that we can send plans for collections.
—Have you ever wanted to move closer to the center of the country?
— I never had the feeling of wanting to move somewhere. I like the fact that I am progressing by training in Magadan with my first trainer, my father. I remember when we first came to the Russian Championship and our eyes were worth five kopecks. You arrive and realize the guys are on a whole different level.
Now, at the local level, I am campaigning for guys to participate in all-Russian competitions. Yes, you will be the hundredth, two hundredth in the championship, but you will understand what you have to strive for. Many at one time said: where is Kozhakin going, although he is not selected. Yes, I was not selected, we had a quota and I respected it. But thanks to this I gained experience and climbed higher and higher.
— How did you react when you saw the result at the Olympic Games in the 100m breaststroke final?
— I treated him with understanding. Breaststroke is a specific and energy-consuming activity. At the same time we were sailing to Yekaterinburg. The preparation was superb, much better than before the Russian Championship, I felt good, but in the second half of the distance I didn’t know how to swim, it was more painful, my pelvis fell. I saw that the guys from Paris were also having trouble. And the pool wasn’t that deep and the check out time was later. Breaststroke is sensitive. I understood that the guys were no longer swimming for the highest seconds, but for victory. This is such a brilliant understanding of the situation!
Of course, there was an idea: to be there now, swim according to the best result and qualify for prizes. I corresponded with Kirill Prigoda and sent him: “It’s a shame we are not there.” Kirill said that the world had never seen such a gift. But at the same time we understand that no one knows in what form you would have ended up there, how you would have felt and whether you would have even reached the final.
— So you are not in favor of direct comparison of results?
— Many people say that the result does not depend so much on the pool. But breaststroke is very sensitive even in a swimming pool. Paris was not suitable for breaststroke swimmers!
— You missed the Olympics, now you have obtained neutral status. We have already collected all the sarcasms in the comments, and I quote: “Did you miss the Olympics for fun?
—And I have read such comments, of course. I’m calm, I don’t delve into it. We must move forward without regrets. The World Championships are planned for next year. Of course, the idea arose to try to qualify for the World Cup in Singapore, but there are applications until October 1, all this still needs to be discussed, everything is not so simple.
— Now each stage of organizing the process takes more time.
“That’s why I took neutral status in advance, to be able to plan everything well, so that everything goes smoothly, so that there is a start to qualify. So that it wouldn’t be like Yulia Efimova, when she had to bother organizing her selection herself.
If there is nothing on the horizon for the Russian team to return to the world stage, I will play in neutral status. I take this very seriously. The fate of an athlete is in the hands of the athlete himself.
— Yulia had little time for the selection, you have had enough. And what comes to mind for the selection? Kazakhstan Championship?
– This is the most realistic option, but, in my opinion, it is almost on the same schedule as our championship. We will try to make sure we compete in the Russian Championships and qualify in time for the World Championships.
– All this is expensive. Doesn’t that scare you?
– It’s scary. I am counting on local support – I will look for sponsors. I can’t handle this alone, I have a family and a child, I have my own expenses that won’t go away. Everything must be planned correctly, that’s why I took neutral status for next year.
— Does having obtained a neutral status add motivation?
— My season started very strong. Diseases clung to each other. In such a situation, you can neither start training properly nor train for fun. And that’s when the motivation came back.
Now there is already such an impulse to move forward – I began to feel better in the pool, my mood is more charged in terms of motivation. I also have goals for internal competitions for 2025, I need to improve my results, maintain my championship status, no matter what anyone says, it’s an accident. I want to prove that this is an acquired skill.
I have a mini-motto: small goals make a big dream come true. And the World Cup and the Olympics are a dream. Swim on the slopes alongside world leaders!
– Not everyone will understand you in this desire. They will say: what is the point of traveling as a tourist?
– Those who understand will support. Those who don’t understand will simply express their opinion. I’m calm about it. There is only one sporting career.
I’m 27, but I feel like a junior. Very busy, full of motivation. I’m ready to travel everywhere, play everywhere and get started. I don’t feel the fatigue from swimming or the feeling of “I just have to endure this last cycle.” I enjoy what I do, the stress I feel in training and the ability to manage it.
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Source : MatchTV
I’m John White and I’m an experienced journalist working in the news industry. My specialty is covering sports news, which I’ve been doing for over 6 years now. During this time, I have worked as an author with Athletistic, a popular online news website focusing on sports topics.