Emma McKenon (AUS), Lydia Jacoby (USA), Margaret MacNeil (CAN), Florian Wellbrock (GER) and Chad le Clos (RSA) shared their excitement to race at the inaugural FINA Swimming World Cup 2021 as they attended a press conference in Berlin.
Asked about where she keeps all her medals, the most decorated athlete from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Emma McKeon (AUS) said:
“My medals are all at my parents’ house.”
About her beyond successful summer, she said: “It is a bit weird to look back at all I have achieved and still feels surreal. I have always been in swimming, all my life, but this has been a very good year for me. It is a great honour to be named amongst the most successful Australian swimmers.”
Looking forward to competing at the SWC after a first experience in Singapore in 2019, McKeon said:
I am not used to short-course at all because in Australia we very much focus on long-course. I am super excited to be part of this circuit again
National star Florian Wellbrock (GER) explained how his exposure changed after the Olympics.
“I started to get a bit more media attention when I came back home after the Games. I have been on a few TV shows and I enjoy it of course.”
The World Cup is a really important event and Berlin is the fastest pool in Europe I think, so it is cool to race next to the best athletes of the world and the World Cup is definitely a milestone in the swimming world
A traditional pool champion as well as an Open Water ace (current Olympic title holder) he said:
“I don’t want to choose between Open Water and Swimming, ever. I enjoy both. We will see how things go here because I still haven’t fully recovered from my 10km race last weekend. I still feel a bit tired but very excited.”
USA’s new swimming star Lydia Jacoby underlined how important having family support on-site is and how much it can contribute to success.
This is my first big meet since the Olympics, and I am very focused. Unlike in Tokyo, I am accompanied by my mother and coach here and it makes a big difference to have their support. The entire U.S. Junior Team is here too which is very promising.
About her racing strategy, she added:
“Obviously I heard a lot about the prestigious Swimming World Cup in my career, but this is my first time attending. I will keep doing what I know best and try not to overthink too much.”
2012 Olympic champion and Swimming World Cup veteran Chad Le Clos (RSA) said:
“It is great to be back. Berlin is a special spot and a very fast pool.”
Despite his impressive tally of 145 SWC gold medals Le Clos said: “I am still looking to add more! I personally feel very excited to compete here again after a couple of years.”
“Short-course in South Africa is quite common because we train in 25m pool. We don’t have that many 50m pool facilities in South Africa.”
“The new scoring system is interesting but in like every competition I try to do my best and not think too much about the outcome. There are some tough competitors here so let’s see what happens.”
“Not many people know this, but I have had a very tough year and I believe I will be back on top, get myself together and I will definitely be successful in Paris! That’s my goal!”
Olympic and World champion (2019) Margaret MacNeil (CAN) highlighted how difficult the past year has been with the pandemics restrictions massively impacting the training schedule for athletes.
“Canada had one of the strictest lockdowns in the world and there were many obstacles on our road. But we kept training all together for about 15months and I could see my hard work paying off. Results came because of the work we put in and it just feels so nice to be back to normal. Travelling again is good too.”
Asked about the pressure she feels post-Olympics, she said: “In 2019 I wasn’t internationally known when I won my gold medal at the World Championships, but at the Olympics I did so I had this extra pressure to deal with. I mean, I have been wanting to compete at the Olympics since the age of 8 so it still feels a bit surreal but I have witnessed my progress and improving results as a result of my efforts and all the work I put in over the years.”
"I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to our swimmers that have joined us for this important event that marks the return to competition after a long break imposed by the pandemic" @fina_president at the press conference of the #SWC21 Berlin pic.twitter.com/BSkNZy1QwH
— FINA (@fina1908) September 30, 2021
The FINA President Husain Al Musallam also attended the event this afternoon to inaugurate this new edition of the Swimming World Cup.
First of all I am very happy to be back in the beautiful city of Berlin. I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to our swimmers today that have joined us for this important event that marks the return to competition after a long break imposed by the pandemic
Captain Husain Al Musallam added: “The Swimming World Cup was launched in 1988 and Berlin has been with us since 2000 and I would like to thank the city of Berlin and the German Swimming Federation for working very hard to organise this event and create such an amazing first leg for our 318 athletes here in Berlin.”
“This is a big step to slowly go back to normal life with sport as a catalyst. Well done to our swimmers for being such great ambassadors to our sport and I am looking forward to fantastic racing over the weekend”