Feature by Stefan Lackner<\/i><\/p>\n
CLEVELAND, Mississippi, October 30. POLAND's Lukasz Wojt is next up in our Getting to Know<\/i> series on European swimmers.<\/p>\n
Country: <\/b> Poland
\nEvents:<\/b> 200 IM, 200 free
\nBirthplace:<\/b> Danzig\/Gdansk
\nCollege:<\/b> FH Wiesbaden
\nResidence: <\/b> Frankfurt, Germany
\nHobbies: <\/b> Playing all kinds of sports and reading books
\nClub: <\/b> SG Frankfurt
\nCoach: <\/b> Danuta Wojt
\nAchievements: <\/b>
\nIn 2003:
\n* Gold at German nationals, and finalist at European short course
\nIn 2004:
\n* Gold at German short course nationals and medalist at European long course
\nIn 2005:
\n* Gold at German nationals short and long course and finalist at Europeans
\nIn 2006:
\n* Gold at German and Polish nationals and finalist at Europeans
\nIn 2007:
\n* Gold at German and Polish nationals, bronze medalist at World University Games and Polish record
\nIn 2008:
\n* Qualified for the Olympic Games, finalist at short course worlds<\/p>\n
International Medals:<\/b>
\n* Bronze at World University Games in 2007<\/p>\n
How was the Olympics experience overall? <\/b>
\nThe Olympics were pretty fast. Unfortunately, I could not reach any of my personal bests. But, it was a great experience to be there, and to meet so many other people from other sports. It was definitely worth all the pain I had to go through to get there.<\/p>\n
How has your life changed by being a part of the sport?<\/b>
\nI have met a lot of interesting people, and I've seen a lot of different places. I spent almost a year in the United States, which also helped me to improve my language skills.<\/p>\n
Did you ever think you would be as successful in your country as you have been? <\/b>
\nWhen I started swimming, my goal was to participate at the Olympics. I worked hard for it, and I'm glad that it worked out. My mum, who has been my coach since I was little, is also my biggest supporter.<\/p>\n
With the world getting faster in the sport, who do you see as the next big swim country after the U.S. and Australia? <\/b>
\nPoland! Just kidding. I don't know. The college\/sport system in America is unique. No other country in the world has that, so it is hard for a smaller country to become a strong swim nation. It is mostly just one or two good swimmer from a country. But, that's not really a swim nation to me. But, to answer your question, maybe France comes close to what you can call a swim country.<\/p>\n
What is your next goal? <\/b>
\nTo graduate from school, and enjoy swimming more than I did the past two years.<\/p>\n
What do you do to prepare before a race? <\/b>
\nI try to concentrate on the main things like body position, start and turns. What I learned in the past few years is to not think about what will happen if I get second or I miss a cut and don't make a team. Thoughts like this cost a lot of mental energy you actually need for the race later on.<\/p>\n
What is the hardest set you've ever swum? <\/b>
\nI have done a lot of hard sets, but I couldn't say exactly which one was the hardest. But, sets like 24 x 200 free or 15 x 400 IM for time really make me tired.<\/p>\n
Do you ever fear losing a race? <\/b>
\nNo. In my situation, I am always more worried about reaching a certain time.<\/p>\n
Did you ever wish to participate in another sport? <\/b>
\nActually, quite often, especially since my girlfriend is a world-class high jumper. When I compare her practices to ours, I really would like to change. Just kidding. But, swimming has always been big in my family and my grandfather was a world record holder in the 50s. My parents also were both national champions in Poland, so it is part of my family's tradition.<\/p>\n
What would you say to a child, who is learning to swim, and is scared of the water?<\/b>
\nStay out of the water and try another sport, which is not so hard to practice for. Just kidding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Feature by Stefan Lackner CLEVELAND, Mississippi, October 30. POLAND's Lukasz Wojt is next up in our Getting to Know series on European swimmers. Country: Poland Events: 200 IM, 200 free<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":85683,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world","category-zzzzzzzzz"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n