Swimming champions preparing for the upcoming 17th FINA World Championships in Budapest (HUN) paid a visit to the brand new state-of-the-art Danube Arena, built for what will be Hungary’s biggest sporting event ever hosted.
Rio 2016 gold medallists Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), Gregorio Paltrinieri (ITA) and Adam Peaty (GBR) were among the first athletes to visit the modern facilities of the complex, invited by FINA’s long-term partner Arena for a photoshoot.
After taking a first dip in the pool, Sjostrom said:
“The swimming pool is awesome and I was glad to have a chance to test it before the World Championships.”
The 100m fly champion has been training hard since November 2016 with a new coach and it has apparently paid off as she is currently leading the world ranking in four events.
“Certainly the priority is still 50 and 100m butterfly, but we have started to work on my sprint technique in freestyle which has already proved to be effective, because in Stockholm I swam my personal best in both the 50 and 100 m freestyle. I am looking forward to seeing what I can achieve through hard work in freestyle in Budapest this summer.”
Regarding the Danube Arena, Paltrinieri said:
“I am absolutely fascinated by the Arena, it is extremely spacious, the lights are good”
Looking for new challenges Paltrinieri recently tried himself in open water and finished fourth in the 10km race of the European Cup in Eilat.
“I liked it very much and I am planning to enter more open water races later, but definitely not at the next World Championships. There I will compete only in traditional pool in the 800 and 1500m freestyle precisely.”
100m breast champion at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and World Record holder Adam Peaty shared his first impressions of the Danube Arena.
“I am a visual person pretty much, I like to observe venues I am about to compete in. I watched a lot of 360 videos of Rio back then, as well. Now I am glad to be here. The Arena is beautiful, spacious and bright. The grandstands can seat a huge amount of fans which definitely inspires me.”
“As soon as I saw the pool I knew that it would be a fast one” he said, while looking around fascinated.