Katarina Simonović: Moje prvo Olimpijsko iskustvo

Katarina Simonović je jedna od četvoro srpskih takmičara koji su nastupili na Olimpijskim igrama u Riju u plivanju. Katarina je državna rekordeka na 200 i 400 m slobodno, a olimpijsku normu ispunila je rezultatom 1:58.87 na 200 m slobodno. U Riju je u ovoj disciplini zabeležila 2:00.06 i zauzela 30. mesto, što joj je drugi najbolji rezultat u karijeri. Najveći uspesi do sada su joj finale na juniorskom Evropskom prvenstvu, kao i polufinale na seniorskom Evropskom prvenstu.

Nakon nastupa u Riju postavili smo Katarini par pitanja:

SwimOn: Kako bi opisala svoje prvo Olimpijsko iskustvo?

Katarina: Bilo je neverovatno. Teško je da pretočim taj osećaj u reči. Iako je puno sportista koji su nastupali u Riju izjavilo da su ove igre bile najneorganizovanije do sada, ali za nekog koji je prvi put na Olimpijadi, ovaj događaj predstavlja mnogo više od same organizacije. Uopšte nisam razmišljala o tome da li su dobro organizovane, jednostavno sam bila srećna i zahvalna što sam tu gde sam. Bilo je super videti Nadal-a ili Usain Bolt-a kako se hrane u kantini. Bila sam u okruženju najboljih sportista sveta.

SwimOn: Takmičila si se sa najboljim plivačicama sveta, među kojima je i Katie Ledecky. Šta misliš o njoj i njenim neverovatnim rezultatima?

Katarina: Katie Ledecky je nešto posebno… Stvarno mi nije jasno kako joj sve to polazi za rukom. Ono što je stvarno sjajno je što mislim da niko ne shvata koliko je ona dobra plivačica. Ona uskoči u bazen uradi to što uradi, a onda pogledate okolo sve trenere koji jednostavno vrte glavom u neverici. Ta devojka trenutno ima najbolju psihičku i fizičku spremu na svetu.

SwimOn: Ispunila si san svakog sportiste, predstavljali si svoju zemlju na Olimpijskim igrama. Koji su tvoji drugi ciljevi kojim stremiš u plivanju?

Katarina: Za sada idem mesec po mesec sa plivanjem. Znam da želim da nastupim na svetskom prvenstvu sledeće godine u Budimpešti, i imam veoma visoke ciljeve za to takmičenje. Želela bih da uđem u polufinale na tom takmičenju i oborim još srpskih rekorda. Nisam najsrećnija sa mojim nastupom u Riju, ali prvi put sam pravila dva tejpera u tako kratkom vremenskom periodu, jer sam bila i u tejperu za Sette Colli krajem juna. Iz tog razloga ne mogu previše da budem nezadovoljna. Ali želim da završim sa ovim sportom sa ostvarenim najboljim vremenom, tako da ću sigurno nastaviti do svetskog prvenstava sledeće godine.

SwimOn: Olimpijski komitet Srbije je odlučio da na ove Olimpijske igre vodi samo sportiste koji su ispunili A norme, čak i ako je plivač bio pozvan od strane FINA da nastupa na takmičenju. Šta ti misliš o ovoj odluci?

Katarina: Nisam sigurna zašto su doneli takvu odluku i ne shvatam process donošenja takve odluke. Svi plivači koji pokušavaju da se kvalifikuju na Olimpijske igre, treniraju jako. Oni koji ne uspeju da ostvare ili za malo promaše A normu i dalje imaju velike šanse za visok plasman i dobar nastup. Nije kao da plivači sa B normama nisu ništa trenirali i da se takav rezultat desio sam od sebe. I oni su trenirali isto jako koliko i plivači koji su ostvarili A norme. Takođe, stvarno znači imati veći tim na Olimpijskim igrama kao podršku jedni drugima. Na tribinama i pored bazena, sedeli smo pored Južne Afrike i Japana, koji su imali ogromne timove. Osećala sam se malo čudno, jer je nas bilo samo četvoro, jednostavno nismo izgledali kao snažan tim. Ne želim da te velike države gledaju na Srbiju kao neku malu zemljicu koja ne zna da se takmiči. Imamo jako brze i dobre plivače i kada bi poveli sve njih ostavili bismo mnogo snažniji uticaj.

SwimOn: Predstavljala si Srbiju na internacionalnim takmičenjima, kao i plivački klub “Proleter“ iz Zrenjanina na nacionalnim takmičenjima. Da li si zadovoljna sa timskom atmosferom i šta bi volela da unaprediš?

Katarina: Srećna sam što mogu da predstavljam zemlju iz koje potičem i uvek sam ponosna što predstavljam srpski tim. Mislim da možemo da budemo bolji, kao što sam i u prethodnom odgovoru napisala, ako se potrudimo kao zemlja da radimo snažnije i podržavamo jedni druge, bez obzira koji klub predstavljamo u Srbiji. Moramo biti ujedinjeniji i zajedno nastupamo snažno na internacionalnom nivou. Moramo da uradimo sve što treba da se uradi na treningu i da budemo fokusirani na cilj. Imam utisak da puno plivača u Srbiji ima jedino cilj da budu dobri na državnom prvenstvu, što iskreno nije uopšte visok cilj. U tom okruženju se takmičite sa 3-4 brza plivača. Ako postavite sebi cilj da predstavljate svoju zemlju i takmičite se na internacionalnom nivou i takmičite se sa plivačima iz Mađarske, Francuske, Italije…onda će vam i očekivanja biti mnogo veća, malo po malo, a samim tim će tada i nacionalna takmičenja postati sve kvalitetnija i “brža”.

SwimOn: How would you describe your first Olympic experience?

Katarina: It was amazing, it is truly hard to put into words. I know that a lot of the athletes who have been to the Olympics said that Rio was the most unorganized and the worst games so far, but when you have never been, it is so much more than an organized event. I didn’t really care if it was the most organized event I just was happy and grateful to be there. It was so cool to see Nadal or Usain Bolt eating lunch in the cafeteria. I was amongst the greatest athletes in the world.

SwimOn: You competed with the worlds best swimmers, and among them is Katie Ledecky. What do you think about her, and her amazing performances?

Katarina: Katie Ledecky is something else.. I really don’t know how she does it. I think what’s great about her is that no one really understands how she’s so good. She does what she does in a race and then you look around and see all the international coaches just shaking their heads out of disbelief. Like the girl just has the strongest mental and physical game in the word right now.

SwimOn: You fulfilled every athletes dream, and that is to represent your country at the Olympic games. What other goals would you like to pursuit in swimming?

Katarina: For now I am taking the sport of swimming a month at a time. I know I want to go to the world championships in Budapest next summer and I really want to have high goals for it. I’d like to semi final and swim some new Serbian records. I wasn’t very happy with my performance in Rio, but it was my first time doing 2 tapers that close together since I had just tapered for the Sette Colli meet in the end of June. So in a way, I can’t be too upset. But I want to leave the sport of swimming with a best time and progress so I will continue to the world championships for sure.

SwimOn: Serbia Olympic Committee, decided that only athletes with A Olympic cuts would go to the Olympics in Rio, even the athletes that would have been invited by FINA, were not aloud to go. What do you think about that decision?

Katarina: I am not too sure why they came to that decision, and I don’t really understand the thought process at all. Swimmers who are trying to make it to the Olympics are all working really hard. Those who fall short and barely miss the A cut, still have a very strong B cut and have the opportunity to race and perform well. It’s not like the B cut swimmers weren’t training or just magically made it. They worked just as hard as us A cut swimmers and I think they should have a chance to compete. Plus it’s really cool to have a bigger team at the Olympics and support each other. On deck, we sat next to South Africa and Japan and they had these huge teams. I felt a little stupid because there was only 4 of us and it just doesn’t look like we are a very strong team. I don’t want these big countries to look at Serbia and know that we are a small country and we can’t compete. We have some really fast swimmers and if we come together we would carry a bigger impact.

SwimOn: You represented Serbia internationally, as well as Serbian swimming club “Proleter“ from Zrenjanin at the national championships. Are you happy with team atmosphere, and what would you try to improve?

Katarina: I’m happy to represent where I come from and always am proud to represent our team. I think we can be better like I said before if we all try as a country to work harder and support other swimmers despite what club team they come from in Serbia. In the end, our small country has to learn to come together and to compete strongly at a high level internationally. That means we all need to do what needs to be done in training and focus on that goal. I think a lot of people in Serbia have the goal of being the fastest at nationals which quite honestly isn’t a very high goal. In that world, you are only competing with about 3-4 other swimmers in each event. If you begin to have the goal to represent your country and compete internationally and race people from Hungary, and France or Italy, then the expectations will be so much higher and the country will slowly become more competitive and faster.