Sergei Kolmogorov: Efimova showed good seconds in the USA

Head coach of the Russian swimming team Sergei Kolmogorov believes that Olympic medalist Yulia Efimova showed good results at competitions in the United States before the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Head coach of the Russian swimming team Sergei Kolmogorov believes that Olympic medalist Yulia Efimova showed good results at competitions in the United States before the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

“The Federation decided to admit Efimova to the Olympic Games during the suspension - which means we believed that the situation would be resolved successfully. And FINA’s decision on this matter was completely expected. Yulia showed decent results in Los Angeles, which indicate that this time is quite enough to get into shape and compete for a medal at the Olympic Games. The participants in our combined relay are especially pleased, since the closest competitor among the participating teams in breaststroke loses to Efimova by about 3 seconds,” R-Sport quotes Kolmogorov as saying.

Efimova won two breaststroke distances at competitions in Los Angeles after returning to the competition.

source: "R-Sport"

Valieva: 200 at once - and with a quadruple. Our new star wins in Courchevel. 13-year-old Kamila Valieva won the 1st stage of the 2019 Junior Grand Prix. The Russian woman performed the quadruple sheepskin coat cleanly and overcame the grandmaster mark of 200 points. 08/24/2019 08:42 Figure skating Tigay Lev

Evgeniy Lovchev: After the 2018 World Cup, our footballers are not afraid of Scottish fans. A Soviet Sport observer talks about the Euro 2020 qualifying match between Scotland and Russia. 06.09.2019 17:15 Football

Alexander Shlemenko: Poirier made a mistake - he spent a lot of energy on strangling Khabib Mixed martial arts fighter Alexander Shlemenko - about Khabib Nurmagomedov’s victory over Dustin Poirier. 09/08/2019 00:45 MMA Volokhov Yuri

Bianca is the new queen. Serena's time is up What conclusions can we draw after Bianca Andreescu's victory over Serena Williams in the US Open final. 09/08/2019 15:30 Tennis Nikolay Mysin

Why is this team not ashamed? Column by Nikolai Yaremenko The editor-in-chief of “Soviet Sport” caught himself thinking: for the first time in many years, you look at the standings and don’t count the remaining matches. 09/07/2019 18:00 Football Yaremenko Nikolay

“You don’t need to draw conclusions from one game.” What Znarok and Maktavish said after the match The coaches of Lokomotiv and Spartak summed up the results of the match. 04.09.2019 23:30 Hockey Kostyaev Ivan

One foot in the Euro. Russia defeated Scotland Stanislav Cherchesov's team achieved a strong-willed victory in Glasgow and secured 90 percent of its qualification to the 2020 European Championship. 09/07/2019 00:00 Football Moshchenko Zakhar

Today, April 5, the head coach of the Russian national swimming team, Sergei Valentinovich Kolmogorov, celebrates his 70th birthday!

Kolmogorov Sergey Valentinovich – Doctor of Biological Sciences, professor, full member (academician) of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences (Russian Academy of Natural Sciences), Honored Worker of Physical Culture of the Russian Federation, laureate of the M.V. Lomonosov Prize (1983). Sergei Valentinovich is one of the world's leading experts in the field of competitive swimming.

Sergei Valentinovich's scientific interests are constantly related to the problems of energy supply and biomechanics of competitive swimming. Since 1989, he worked for a year as an employee and then as the head of the complex scientific group of the USSR (after 1992 - Russia) national swimming team. In this capacity, he took part in preparing the national team swimmers for the Olympic Games (Barcelona - 1992, Atlanta - 1996, London - 2012), as well as for a number of world and European swimming championships. In 2016, he was appointed head coach of the Russian national swimming team.

Kolmogorov S.V. author of more than 150 scientific papers, citation index in international academic journals more than 600. Regularly makes presentations at various international conferences, symposiums and seminars. He took part in the implementation of several international research projects in the USA, France, Australia and Japan related to the study of the biomechanics of steady-state non-stationary human movement in an aquatic environment. Member of the International Association of Sports Biomechanics (ISSB), expert of the international academic journal Journal of Biomechanics.

The All-Russian Swimming Federation congratulates the hero of the day on this significant date and wishes him good health, happiness and new success in his professional activities for the benefit of the development of Russian swimming!

Photo by Yuri Mashkov

Today, April 23, the Russian swimming championship, the only qualifying tournament for the Olympic Games, ended in the pool of the Moscow Olympic sports complex. The Presidium of the All-Russian Swimming Federation (RSF) included 34 athletes to compete in Rio: 21 fulfilled all selection criteria for personal distances, nine - relay criteria, four more were included by a special decision, as having fulfilled the “A” standards of the International Aquatics Federation (FINA). The head coach of the Russian swimming team, Sergei Kolmogorov, clarified this to the special correspondent of the Sports Information Agency “All Sport” Tigran Avanyan.

“According to all the criteria, 21 people were selected for the Russian Olympic swimming team to compete at the Games in Rio at personal distances,” said Sergei Kolmogorov. - We recruited nine more people for the relay races. We took four people in five relay races, and five in the men's 4x200 m relay. In total, 30 people were selected for the Olympic Games. A heated discussion took place regarding four more athletes who did not fulfill the WFTU criteria, but had the FINA “A” standard. These are young guys who must go through these Games in order to solve our main tasks at the next Olympics. So, we selected 34 people to perform in Rio.”

“We still have the opportunity to qualify for the Olympic roster at the European Championships in London (Great Britain) in May,” continued Sergei Kolmogorov. - We decided to provide such a chance only to the winners and silver medalists of the Russian Championship, who were a little short of enough to fulfill the WFTU standard - at distances where there were free places. These are Nikolay Skvortsov, Alexander Osipenko, Andrey Zhilkin and Natalya Ivaneev. Moreover, Ivaneeva will be on the team if the situation with Yulia Efimova develops unfavorably. I don’t want to be left with just one breaststroke swimmer at the Olympics. Semyon Makovich will also go to the European Championships to try to fulfill the standard at a distance of 400 m medley.”

“Yulia Efimova has not yet been included in the Olympic roster,” Sergei Kolmogorov clarified. - If the situation is resolved positively, which we all really hope for, she will replace Ivaneeva on this list. The quantitative composition will not change. Two more athletes from the Olympic team will perform at the European Championships according to individual plans that we agreed upon back in September. This is Andrey Grechin with his coach Gennady Turetsky and Grigory Tarasevich with his coach Arkady Tarasevich. The composition of coaches for the Olympic team has not yet been approved by the presidium.”

“I have good relations with both the Ministry of Sports and the Sports Training Center,” recalled Sergei Kolmogorov. “But I never thought that any news agency would do my job professionally and highly efficiently.” This is the “All Sport” Agency, which throughout the Russian Championship monitored all standards, with all the nuances. I express my deep gratitude to you - you have done the lion's share of my work."

34 swimmers included in the Russian Olympic team

Today, April 23, the Russian swimming championship ended in Moscow. Based on its results, 34 athletes (23 men and 11 women) were identified and recommended for inclusion in the Russian national team for the 2016 Olympic Games. In addition, five swimmers will undergo additional selection at the May European Championships in London (UK). The composition of the Russian swimming team is reported by the Sports Information Agency “Ves Sport”.

List of athletes for inclusion in the Russian national team for the Olympic Games

Swimming. Men. Vladimir Morozov, Andrey Grechin, Alexander Krasnykh, Evgeny Rylov, Grigory Tarasevich, Andrey Shabasov, Vsevolod Zanko, Kirill Prigoda, Anton Chupkov, Ilya Khomenko, Alexander Sadovnikov, Evgenia Koptelov, Yaroslav Potapov, Alexander Popkov, Alexander Sukhorukov, Evgeny Lobintsev, Danila Izotov , Mikhail Dovgalyuk, Vyacheslav Andrusenko, Daniil Pakhomov, Alexey Bryansky, Semyon Makovich, Ilya Druzhinin.

Women. Veronica Popova, Victoria Andreeva, Daria Ustinova, Anastasia Fesikova, Sofia Andreeva, Svetlana Chimrova, Daria Chikunova, Natalya Lovtsova, Rozalia Nasretdinova, Arina Openysheva, Daria Mullakaeva.

List of athletes for additional selection at the European Championships in London

Swimming. Men. Nikolay Skvortsov, Semyon Makovich, Alexander Osipenko, Andrey Zhilkin. Women. Natalya Ivaneeva.

Natalya Lovtsova: my mother told me: just try not to win a medal for your son!

Today, April 23, the eighth day of the Russian swimming championship is taking place at the Moscow Olympic sports complex. Natalya Lovtsova won the 50m freestyle (24.97 seconds), fulfilling the WFTU standard for joining the Olympic team (24.99). Natalya Lovtsova commented on her performance to the special correspondent of the Sports Information Agency “All Sport” Tigran Avanyan.

I had slightly different intentions for this championship, but nevertheless I am very happy,” said Natalya Lovtsova. - I am very glad that I confirmed my right to go to the Olympics.

What didn't work at other distances?
- I didn’t have enough strength. We talked a lot with the coach, looking for a compromise. Now, after the World Cup, we know what to work on.

What are your impressions of the Russian Championship?
- The 50m freestyle distance is a lottery (smiles). And when you win such a race, you are always happy. Today many acquaintances are cheering for me, but my main viewer today watching swimming on TV is my son Styopa. It's his birthday tomorrow. My mother told me today: just try not to win a medal for your son!

Yaroslav Potapov: I was sent to swimming so that I could learn to swim, but today my goal is Olympic gold

Today, April 23, the eighth day of the Russian swimming championship is taking place at the Moscow Olympic sports complex. Yaroslav Potapov won the 1500 m freestyle with a Russian junior record (15.03.61), fulfilling the WFTU standard for joining the Olympic team (15.04.22). Yaroslav Potapov commented on his performance to the special correspondent of the Sports Information Agency “All Sport” Tigran Avanyan.

The distance was very difficult,” said Yaroslav Potapov. - Today the Russian Championship ends, and psychologically it’s very difficult to prepare yourself for the last day. Everyone is already waiting to go home, smiling and joking. And I managed to fulfill the Olympic standard, which, I admit, I did not expect from myself. I wanted to improve my time, but I didn’t believe that I would “swim to Rio” (smiles).

What was the plan for this swim?
- I thought that I would stick with my comrade, with my partner Ilya Druzhinin. But halfway through the distance he let me go ahead, and I had to work alone.

At the end of the swim you improved. How was this possible?
- I heard the tribunes yelling, I thought that I was showing a decent time (smiles). The entire Volgograd team, my coach Tatyana Vladimirovna Mankevich and my friends were cheering for me today.

What were you thinking during the last 50 meters?
- To be honest, I thought I swam in 15 minutes (laughs). But when I turned around and saw the time, I was even a little upset (smiles). But I passed the Olympic standard.

In the past, when did you first think that you could qualify for the Olympic Games?
- I didn’t think about it at all, it wasn’t even in my thoughts. My joy now cannot be described.

When you got into sports, what was your goal?
- They sent me to swimming so that I could learn to swim (laughs). But then I began to succeed, and passion appeared. And today we can say that my goal is Olympic gold.

In addition to the pool, you also perform in open water. Any plans for open water this season?
- Yes, according to the latest information, the European Championship has been postponed to September, and I’ll get to it. I'd like to go.

What comes first for you - open water or a pool?
- I think it's a swimming pool. More precisely, now it’s a swimming pool (smiles).

The men's and women's teams of St. Petersburg are Russian champions in the 4x100 m medley relay

Today, April 23, the Russian swimming championship ended at the Moscow Olympic sports complex. In the combined relay races, the men's (Andrey Shabasov, Daniil Pakhomov, Kirill Prigoda, Evgeniy Lagunov) and women's (Ekaterina Andreeva, Ekaterina Shapanikova, Maria Temnikova, Daria Ustinova) teams of St. Petersburg won with results of 3.35.54 and 4.07.19, respectively.

Men. 4x100 m medley relay 1. St. Petersburg (Andrey Shabasov, Daniil Pakhomov, Kirill Prigoda, Evgeny Lagunov) - 3.35.54. 2. Moscow (Kliment Kolesnikov, Evgeny Koptelov, Vsevolod Zanko, Mikhail Dovgalyuk) - 3.37.90. 3. Volgograd region (Alexander Zotov, Alexander Sadovnikov, Kirill Strelnikov, Ivan Kuzmenko) - 3.39.98.

Women. 4x100 m medley relay 1. St. Petersburg (Ekaterina Andreeva, Ekaterina Shapanikova, Maria Temnikova, Daria Ustinova) - 4.07.19. 2. Sverdlovsk region (Polina Lapshina, Alina Kashinskaya, Anna Belousova, Valeria Salamatina) - 4.09.57. 3. Moscow (Alexandra Papusha, Anna Mikhailova, Vera Kalashnikova, Rozalia Nasretdinova) - 4.09.91.

Yaroslav Potapov is the champion of Russia in swimming 1500 m freestyle

Today, April 23, the eighth day of the Russian swimming championship is taking place at the Moscow Olympic sports complex. Yaroslav Potapov won the 1500 m freestyle with a Russian junior record (15.03.61), fulfilling the WFTU standard for joining the Olympic team (15.04.22). Ilya Druzhinin came second (10.15.96), having fulfilled the international federation standard (14.15.77). Bronze goes to Sergei Bolshakov (15.26.58).

Men. Freestyle. 1500 m. 1. Yaroslav Potapov - 15.03.61 (Russian junior record). 2. Ilya Druzhinin (both - Volgograd region) - 10.15.96. 3. Sergey Bolshakov (Udmurtia) - 15.26.58.

Swimming news in Russia today, April 23: Natalya Lovtsova is the Russian champion in swimming 50 m freestyle

Today, April 23, the eighth day of the Russian swimming championship is taking place at the Moscow Olympic sports complex. Natalya Lovtsova won the 50m freestyle (24.97 seconds), fulfilling the WFTU standard for joining the Olympic team (24.99). Rozalia Nasretdinova was second (25.20), third was Maria Kameneva (25.34). Nasretdinova fulfilled the international federation standard (25.28).

Women. Freestyle. 50 m. 1. Natalya Lovtsova (Novosibirsk region) - 24.97. 2. Rozalia Nasretdinova (Moscow) - 25.20. 3. Maria Kameneva (Orenburg region) - 25.34.

The head coach of the Russian swimming team, Sergei Kolmogorov, especially for the CSKA press center, summed up the season performances of the leaders of the national team - army players Anton Chupkov and Vladimir Morozov.

At the World Aquatics Championships in Budapest (July 14-30), Chupkov became the winner in the 200-meter breaststroke (2:06.96), and Morozov could not even reach the semifinals in the crown 100-meter freestyle.

- Sergey Valentinovich, evaluate the performances of army players Chupkov and Morozov this season...
- Chupkov performed superbly. The coaches did everything right with him. At the same time, Chupkov has undeniable potential for further growth. He and the coaches still have work to do that could move his result by a second. They haven't done it yet because it's too early. You need to mature and grow up to do this kind of work.

What just amazes me is that Chupkov is a very intelligent person. It's a pleasure for me to communicate with him. At the “Mare Nostrum” competition he swam strongly (he updated the Russian record twice). After the competition, Anton came up to me and said: “Sergei Valentinovich, now I have completed work that has brought me true satisfaction.”

As for Morozov, we started a discussion with him through the press about his victory in the overall World Cup last season. Volodya is an athlete, but he does not understand what the cumulative training effect is. Such intense competitions, consisting of nine stages of the World Cup, never pass without leaving a trace. So I was waiting for what he showed at the World Championships. It seems to me that Volodya has now begun to think about it. If he doesn’t go to the third cluster of the World Cup, competes at the European Short Course Championships (December 13-17, Copenhagen, Denmark) and then goes to America to prepare, then we can expect a fantastic result from him at the 2018 European Championships in England. And if he again swims all nine stages of the World Cup, then we will again get what we got in Budapest. There are simply general biological patterns. Why don't the leaders of world swimming participate in the World Cup? They're just smarter. Here's your answer.

-In pursuit of a long ruble in short water?
- In the Olympic year, using the authority of the head coach of the national team, I will prohibit such experiments. This disrupts all preparations for the main competitions. We have a good relationship with Volodya. I like him for his intelligence. Yes, he is a truly talented athlete, but, from my point of view, he has not yet fully realized his talents. He may well show a result close to the world record at fifty dollars, but for this he needs to radically change the one-year training cycle. Don't start it off by "killing" it at nine World Cup stages. Vladimir does not agree with me. But we don't fight about it. He even joked: “Sergei Valentinovich, do you want me to share money for the World Cup stages?” (laughs).

-Can Morozov really update the world record in the fifty-kopeck crawl?
- Undoubtedly. Here, on the “Round Lake”, three days before our departure to Budapest for the 2017 World Championships, he easily and naturally swam the “fifty kopeck” in 21.72 seconds. I've never seen anything like this. We both agreed that if he could swim like that all three times at the World Championships, that would be fantastic. Does he have a chance to become a world record holder? Why write him off? He is an absolutely adequate athlete, without bad habits, without violations of the regime. He is sociable and pleasant to work with. This generation of athletes is completely different. They are not rude. Chupkov, Morozov, Rylov are very intelligent guys. Therefore, the atmosphere in the national team is wonderful.

In an interview with R-Sport correspondent Veronika Gibadieva, he summed up the team’s performance at the Olympics, talked about how the team dealt with the situation, which could have ended with the suspension of seven people, and said that he had no complaints about the athletes.

- Sergey Valentinovich, what impressions did this Olympics leave you with?

We are not completely satisfied with our performance at the Olympics. It could have been if there had been one or two golds. This is understandable. But it’s good that we didn’t make any mistakes strategically, we planned everything normally, there were no problems in this regard.

Everyone understands perfectly well that Yulia (Efimova), Zhenya (Rylov) and Anton (Chupkov) were just a little short of gold. I can’t explain the reason, I can’t say that there was pressure on the young boys. For Yulia - yes. There were training sessions and hotel accommodation and other things, but the guys didn’t.

In addition to those indicated, there were other results, quite good results - at the level of Russian records. They are absolutely adequate to the preparation that we planned. But there are also results that were worse than planned. I would like to clarify this situation.

To begin with, I want to name absolutely three coaches who can be considered elite. These are (Andrey) Efimov, (Alexander) Nemtyrev and Andrey Shishin, who trained the Olympic medalists. The other part of the coaches worked fine, but their students were not so close to medals. Another part of the coaches did not cope with individual work with athletes, there were mistakes. There will be no debriefing, there will be a normal work process.

Functions of a crisis manager

I want to explain the technology of my work. Everyone understands perfectly well that, in parallel with the functions of the head coach, I served as a crisis manager. We were hit with meldonium, disqualification, and the suspension situation. Imagine my situation: I’m flying out from Sao Caetano (Brazil) in the morning with a team and still don’t know who to take to the Olympic village and who not. I managed to establish relations between all the structures - there are no complaints against anyone: the Ministry of Sports, the Central SP and the federation - they all worked just perfectly.

Well, as for the recommendations of the comprehensive scientific group, they were not mandatory this year. Full independence in planning was given. Some coaches heeded the advice, some did not. I did not try to influence, but I can now clarify the situation with an example. There is an athlete who was very high in the world rankings after the selection, we, knowing her characteristics, and she has a weak oxidative system, recommended that we go with the athletes to the mid-mountain training stage, the coach, unfortunately, refused. She did not show as high a result as she could have.

I can say that, despite the entire stressful situation, no one committed any violations of corporate ethics - neither coaches nor athletes. I have no complaints about athletes at all. We will be working with a number of coaches who are worried that their students were not able to show good results.

You said that the lineups for the men's freestyle relay races were set up optimally, but it is obvious that not everyone in these teams was in optimal condition.

First: my function as a head coach is to assemble a team that will be the strongest at a given time. There were no complaints from coaches and athletes; they believe that I acted absolutely accurately and correctly. All compositions were agreed upon with the coaches. Second: yes, indeed, some athletes were in the wrong shape. I don’t want to name names, journalists will guess who we’re talking about. It is clear that we missed out on the bronze medal in the men's 4 x 100 m relay, but there was no one to strengthen the team at that particular moment in time.

He is quite strong in this regard, he didn’t show anything outwardly, but I think it’s just my opinion that it affected him. I cannot say that this influenced Lobintsev and Efimova.

- The most important feeling that the team takes away from this Olympics?

What doesn't kill us makes us stronger. This whole situation brought the team and coaches together, and, from my point of view, the chosen training concept was correct.

- Are you ready to continue working with the team?

This is a question for my employer. I will agree with any assessment and decision, except for one thing - I do not agree that this is a failure. In this situation it is not a failure. I am an absolutely unambitious person and did not ask for this position. In the situation that happened in September, they asked me - I agreed. I have no ambitions; if they decide to appoint another head coach, I will be able to hand over to him a balanced team with a good internal psychological climate.

- In the meantime, the season continues and the World Cup stages are ahead. Which team leader will be nominated for them?

We have five people going to the World Cup stages: Efimova, Morozov, (Kirill) Prigoda, (Daria)