Swimmer Simona Baumrtová: I’m Afraid of the Sea ****************************************************************************************** * Swimmer Simona Baumrtová: I’m Afraid of the Sea ****************************************************************************************** So says the current best woman swimmer in the Czech Republic and a 1st year student of the University Faculty of Physical Education and Sport. Simona Baumrtová will not encounter an in the chlorinated water of competition swimming pools, but given the speed in which she z masses of water, she might easily outswim them. In any case, she is one of the very best w her category, both in Europe and in the world. Looking at your training plan, it seems that the less you have time, the more you manage to do. Do you have any advice for those who have a lot of time, but still have troubles getting things done? I don’t have any kind of advice, everybody should organize their time to suit their needs. I don’t like to plan, but lately, I haven’t had a choice. On a usual day, I go swimming in the morning, then I go to school, then I swim in the afternoon and in the evening I try to study, but I usually don’t get much done, because I’m not the kind of person who is able to study into late hours. You started your sports career in gymnastics. Why did you end up settling for swimming and choose backstroke specifically? What is easy or difficult about different styles? I quit gymnastics mostly because I suffered from spondylolisthesis (back condition) and al in the age when one should decide for one discipline – the one he or she has best results for swimming. Backstroke wasn’t a difficult choice, I’ve been good at it since I was a kid been the reason why I stuck with it and why I still enjoy it. Backstroke might be easier f asthma and backstroke allows you to breathe more and more often than other styles. But I’m against other disciplines – throughout the year, I try to compete in all styles and distan competitions. What attracts young people to swimming in the age of the Internet and general physical com when there are sports that provide more funding and income, such as tennis? My dad used to play tennis when he was younger, but I’ve been attracted to water since I w I’m interested in swimming from the point of view of various methods of “improvements”, to technical shortcomings… You’re right to say that one won’t earn much by swimming, but I’m money. I swim because I enjoy it. And why not prefer browsing the Internet? I’m an athlete spirit. The most terrible thing for me to happen is to be sick – then I’m going insane, be home bores me. I love sport in general, not only swimming, and so I try spend all my leisu sports. What kind of swimsuit do you wear? Are there any regulations at top international competit material? Can a certain kind of material slow down the swimmer or make her faster? Is it p full-body swimsuit? Since January 2010, both material and shape of the swimsuit have been prescribed. Everybod in knee-length textile swimsuit. My favorite swimsuit is by Speedo, but I swim in an Arena bigger competitions, such as European and world championships, because of a sponsorship de Swimming Federation. In 2009, polyurethane swimsuit made of a material similar to neoprene It would buoy you up in the water, you would swim faster under water – it was simply bette cancelled after a year, because of the number of records broken. There were about 150 worl in 2009. How big a portion of your training plan is taken up by relaxation? How to improve the perf athlete? By training more, or by more efficient relaxation? I have to admit I don’t do that much relaxation. I don’t have much time for it and I just fun :-). Sometimes I get a massage, but that’s about it. It depends on personal preference hand, there are athletes who don’t need to relax much, on the other hand, there are many o to rest completely for two weeks before an important race. As for what improves the perfor different for everybody, too. My dad and I are now trying to do aerobic training and impro because I still have some shortcomings there. Did competitive swimming change your attitude to water? Is it just the arena in which you opponents or can you just enjoy it? When you go swimming in the summer, do you immediately In the summer, I go swimming to focus on the aerobic part. Competitions are great, I enjoy My best memories are from the 2009 World Championship in Rome and the 2010 European Champi Eindhoven, at which all of us on the Czech team created an awesome atmosphere, we supporte It was amazing, and on top of that, I won a medal there. Lately, my opponents from other c started to recognize me and sometimes they say hello. I’m very flattered :-) Your primary track is 50 m. Do you sometimes think about swimming long distance or even cr English Channel? In fact, my main discipline is 200 m backstroke, sometimes 50 m backstroke, unfortunately, as good on the 100 m track. I wouldn’t go for crossing the Channel, mainly because I am af in the sea. Even on an air mattress, I’m afraid of swimming towards the buoys – I have to shore. This a rather personal question – does your back tend to hurt after swimming? Is swimming treatment for back pains, like some doctors say?   I tend to suffer from some back pain sometimes due to my chronic back condition. But the p too much sport can ruin your body holds for swimming as well. Many swimmers have shoulder problems. Again, it’s different for each swimmer, but a reasonable amount of swimming is u for one’s health. What results at the World Championship in Shanghai and the European Championship in Szczec you’re going to compete, would you consider a real success? It would be a great success to get into the finals at the World Championship. And it would win another medal at the European Championship. But in the summer, my priority will be to year in school and then we’ll see. But I surely don’t want to miss out on swimming. (Marie Kohoutová) Translation: Jaroslav Švelch