Vladimir Salnikov on Olympic Postponement: “This Will Be a Test of Strength For Many”

Vladimir Salnikov. Photo Courtesy: Maria Dobysheva

Olympic gold medalist, former world record holder, and current Russian Swimming President Vladimir Salnikov dished in on the current status of the sport of swimming in a world that has been brought to a halt by the coronavirus pandemic. The Tokyo Olympic Games have been pushed back a year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Salnikov gave an interview that was written in the Russian Swimming Newsletter.

“In the first phase of the development of the situation with coronavirus, when the world had not yet realized how seriously it would affect almost all countries, there was a hope that the epidemic would soon disappear and the Olympics would take place at the allotted time – at the end of the summer of 2020,” Vladimir Salnikov said (his comments translated)

Vladimir Salnikov 1983 by Ladislav Perenyi (1)

Vladimir Salnikov in 1983. Photo Courtesy: Ladislav Perenyi / Swimming World Archive

Salnikov has experienced something like this before. In 1984, the Soviet Union boycotted the Los Angeles Olympics in retaliation for the Americans boycotting the Moscow Games in 1980. Salnikov lost out on a chance of defending his 1500 freestyle gold medal, which was almost a guarantee for him, being the top distance swimmer in the world. That year his season best was a 14:54.75, which was 11 seconds quicker than the gold medal winner in Los Angeles that year: Mike O’Brien of the United States (15:05.20). Salnikov’s 400 freestyle time of 3:48.32 that summer was also quicker than the gold medal winning time of 3:51.23 from George DiCarlo of the United States.

But the 1984 Olympics were lost forever for members of the Soviet Union team. The Tokyo Olympics are still on.

“Do not get me wrong: to compare the current situation with the situation 36 years ago is possible only with a big stretch,” Salnikov said. “After all, we, the athletes of the USSR, lost that Olympics forever and forever. But now it has been transferred so far for exactly a year. I have no doubt that the Games, as planned, will be held in Japan, and they will be held as soon as the international situation on the coronavirus improves. Of course, this will not happen by magic.”

Vladimir Salnikov is considered one of the greatest distance freestylers of all-time. Photo Courtesy: Bob Martin, Allsport / Swimming World Archive

The world has been in mandatory quarantine for over a month now, and Olympic athletes everywhere have been forced to find any and all possible training locations that will keep them in shape, so that when it is safe to go back to training, they will not be behind schedule. Salnikov believes that this time out of mandatory training will test each athlete’s character:

“When the swimmer stays at home, when he is deprived of training in the water, this is a guaranteed loss of shape. And it takes an average of 12-16 weeks to regain oneself, as it was before temporary self-isolation. And how you will look after it is also a question.

“If you manage to force yourself not to stop working “within four walls” – honor and praise to you. Give yourself some slack – recovery will take not three to four months, but longer. And where is the guarantee that at the qualifying starts for the Olympics you can fulfill the control norm and win a place on the national team? That is why today it is extremely important how consciously and in a sporting manner the children will conduct forced excommunication from the pool.”

Vladimir Salnikov was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1993. He is generally regarded as one of the best distance freestylers in history and is one of a small group of swimmers to win the same event at the Olympic Games eight years apart. He was also the first man to break 15:00 in the 1500 freestyle, which he did en route to winning the gold medal in 1980 in Moscow. Salnikov is the president of the Russian Swimming Federation and has been in charge since 2012.

Note from the Editor: A member of the FINA Bureau, Salnikov did not report to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) two EPO positives returned by Russian swimmers in 2009, according to senior sources close to the Russian swimming federation and national team. In an effort to get to the root of the problem, Salnikov had sought to let the swimmers off in return for information about those who supplied the banned substance but that process was closed down by local authorities and the cases were never reported outside Russia.

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