Swimmer Kolesnikov: “Selection for the World Championships? It’s like you came to a Russian language exam and were asked to take the Unified State Exam.”

Medalist at the Olympic and World Swimming Championships Kliment Kolesnikov told that he is not yet thinking about qualifying for the World Short Course Swimming Championships, which will be held in Budapest.

On Thursday, Kolesnikov clocked his third time (51.04 seconds) in the 100m backstroke semi-final at the Russian Short Course Swimming Championships, taking place in St. Petersburg. The tournament could have qualifying status for December’s World Championships in Budapest.

— What do you think of this Russian championship? How super important is this to you?

– I don’t know. A championship is like a championship. I start, I swim. But it’s not yet clear.

— Don’t you think you can qualify for the Short Course World Championships in Budapest?

– There are no such thoughts. The main thing now is to swim.

—Is this because such a window of opportunity has just appeared?

– Probably yes. After all, we were initially preparing for the Russian Championship. Now there is some news, but it doesn’t play a huge role in your performance.

– For what?

— It looks like you came to school for a Russian language exam and were asked to take the Unified State Exam. A kind of inconsistency. You were studying for an essay, not a state exam. It’s the same here – I was preparing for the Russian championship.

— Is it technically difficult to obtain status and apply for a visa?

— There are experienced people within the federation who can help us. Here the question is different: who will go and who will not. Now it is important to perform well in this tournament, to take first place with a decent time,” Kolesnikov told .

Watch live broadcasts of the Russian Short Course Swimming Championship on and the holding’s channels, as well as on the websites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.

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