A year has passed since the Tokyo Olympics. Has this medal changed your life?
– In general, there is more self-confidence. Since the period of successful performance in 2017 and 2018, many things have happened to me that are emotionally overwhelming. But I qualified for the Olympics, I won a medal in the relay even after an unsuccessful performance in the personal discipline. It lifted my spirits, gave me the strength to prepare more.
“You were a cool junior.
– Very cool. I didn’t even fully realize I was a cool guy. But then, due to health issues, I crashed hard and didn’t even know if I could train. The day started by taking my blood pressure and praying for no nosebleeds. Sometimes it was scary.
– What was that?
” I do not know either. And not a single doctor answered this question, even deadly diagnoses were made. In the end, it all came down to the fact that I just had to give time.
– Did you have to pass him?
– Puberty, the transitional period, apparently, contributed to this. But it was more about complications after childhood injuries or something that was originally planned. Hands dropped then: I can’t swim.
– What did your parents say?
“Don’t despair, there are studies and other ways to fulfill yourself.” But I didn’t give up – I really wanted to come back. Finally, the doctors helped me. My wonderful pool manager Gulnara Dzhemalovna Romanadze sent me to Germany for rehabilitation. They managed to solve this problem, and thanks to incredible efforts, efforts, I was able to come back, stop suffering from ailments that did not allow me to live in peace.
In 2018, he already managed to become a silver medalist in the relay at the World Short Course Championship. In 2019 and 2020 it was gaining momentum, but not everything was so easy. The fact that the Olympics have been postponed has given time for rehabilitation and recovery. Yet for a year and a half I did not swim, but waded. After that, it is difficult to fully recover.
– Why didn’t you manage to swim the best personal 200m result in Tokyo?
– Probably in a hurry to return the lost. It was not always useful and productive. I learned a lesson: even against the background of mistakes, falling in the mud with your face, you have to try to get to the goal with a cold calculation, a cool head.
At one point I won championships – the world championship with a record too. Everything was going for him to win even more. In 2017, I had a clear plan to reach 1 minute 43 seconds by 2020. But we propose, but God disposes. Not all plans can be realized, even taking into account that I have put a lot of effort into overcoming health problems.
Did you like the Olympic Games? Did you have an idea? Or is the Olympic atmosphere left behind a mask?
– Rather the latter. I didn’t feel the Olympic vibe until the last fifty dollars of the relay. Excitement and experience – all this was in the context of preparation, and not at the beginning. I came to the call room – and that’s it, swim further, nothing should interfere. There was no feeling that this was the big departure from the five-year plan, I just wanted to pull myself together, especially after an unsuccessful performance at a personal distance.
– They say you learned Japanese before the Games?
– It was like that. It would be more interesting if we went into town and had the opportunity to talk. But no one forbade communication with the volunteers. The Japanese are interesting people. If you know at least something in their language, it has you. Their culture is complex, and if you already understand, it means a lot to them.
How did you end up in the Tokyo Frogs (International Swimming League team)?
– First they wanted to take me to Energy Standard, but then it didn’t work out. I sat and waited and the day before the draft ended I decided to write a letter to the Tokyo Frogs. I saw they had a coach – Dave Salo, and I wanted to work with him. My tutor and I composed a text in the official Japanese language, which of course I hadn’t had time to learn yet, and sent a letter to the team. I was told that the lyrics were really cool. For a while, I continued to study with this tutor.
So why Japanese?
“This language entered our minds with animation, culture, cinema…
Have you thought about going this route? The career of an athlete is still an unpredictable thing.
— Yes, it turned out that a maximum of 50% depends on you. The rest is the circumstances.
As to what to do… Many are opening their own schools, but so far I’m not attracted to that. May be later. There is a wonderful school “Swim, Moscow”, its founder is Alexei Bryansky. Both in terms of implementation and organization, one of the highest quality projects, everything is cool with them.
To open your own school, I think you need some sort of your own chip. We’ll see, maybe I’ll do it later.
About Dave Salo. Do you have the chance to train with him?
– He wrote me an invitation letter, and I went to the United States, I swam with him there, then I came back here. In general, I liked it, but the work I’ve done before – long runs, big volumes – it’s not going anywhere. Unfortunately or fortunately, without such work, I cannot swim. Dave has more sprint work, it’s positive, there’s an emotional release, but, let’s say, not everything suits me.
However, I think you need to try other methods to figure out what works for you. After the Games, I understand that well. I have a plan and motivation to work, and then we’ll see.
– From the point of view of psychology, of the approach to work, have you learned anything?
– In the United States, first the story of the mass character is in the first place – the strongest survive in heaps or small. If that doesn’t work, you give up. A coach of this level is not interested in any particular person, only after the first successes in the local championships does he invite him to join his team, and close joint work begins.
We have an athlete since childhood without a coach can not. In general, maybe somewhere is good, but sometimes an athlete is not independent and is not ready to train without a coach. Or on the contrary, he is forced to resign, because he is constantly there and puts too much pressure on him.
– How was the work with Shishin built?
– I came to him at a more conscious age, already being a junior champion. And that’s when I started working closely with him. It was a month of trying, but he didn’t focus on me, and I didn’t focus on him either. We just worked, I was also a training partner with Zhenya Rylov. And then he saw that I was going to be good, and I realized that with him I could show better results. That’s how it all happened. Then they grew closer as a coach and an athlete. He helped me a lot. In difficult times, he did not quit, supported.
Again, you yourself can work your best, do your best, but the circumstances and the environment decide a lot. And I can say that I was lucky with people. I am very grateful for that.
Source : MatchTV
