The World Long Course Swimming Championships will be held in Fukoka, Japan from 23 to 30. July. The races can be watched on TV2 and Areena. Ida Hulkko, Olli Kokko, Laura Lahtinen and Matti Mattsson are seen in the pool.
Even if the desired result did not come in the WC pool, the breaststroker Ida Hulkko knows that he is in better shape than before.
– We have pushed the dune so hard and we are back on the old tracks, so to speak. I want to compete and I have a terrible hunger to win. I’m going there to show that I’m back, says Hulkko.
After last year’s overload situation, he has slowly increased the number of races. The calm pace has clearly paid off when, for example, he won the Finnish championships from all women’s breaststroke trips. Last week, Hulkko won Silver at the German championships both at 50 and 100 meters.
– I’m going to the World Championships aiming for a place in the 50 and 100 meter breaststroke finals. That’s the minimum requirement. Before my difficult year, I was in the finals every time in value competitions and I intend to return that streak as well.
Read also: Top swimmer Ida Hulkko thought she was a machine and exhausted herself in the frantic pace of work
Calmness and wisdom brought by age
At the same time that Hulkko talked about his own situation, he predicted that the pace of the competition would exhaust other swimmers as well. Last year, the best were left out of the long-track World Championships, and even now the ones left out are, for example, the United States Caeleb Dresselof Great Britain Adam Peaty and Hungary Kristof Milak.
Hulkko estimates that the swimmers, who did not take a break after the Tokyo Olympics, are now correcting the situation. According to him, the swimmers are simply burnt out when there have been so many competitions.
– And it has not been in the interests of the International Swimming Federation to ensure that athletes have enough breaks between games. Now, there have been so many prestigious competitions in a row that it is not easy to be world champion for even one year, when the next World Championships are already coming.
Hulkko has previously criticized the strict competition calendar. In addition, he spoke openly about his exhaustion and how to survive it. Hulkko now estimates that he is even a new person in a certain way. At least compared to the athlete he was 4-5 years ago.
– I feel a certain kind of calmness. Many could perhaps say that such wisdom comes from age.
Now the 24-year-old swimmer estimates that he has had to face his own physical and mental limitations. Hulkko says that he always told himself that “this is just sport”.
– I just didn’t believe it, not really. Now I have finally reached a situation where I follow my own words. Maybe that kind of hypocrisy has faded in a certain way.
Media coverage pays for professional sports
In April, Hulkko published A video on his Instagram account, where she skis in a swimsuit in Vuokatti. In social media, the rapture was discussed, and also in traditional media it was stated that the swimmer had “surprised”.
– I don’t think it’s very surprising that a swimmer appears in a swimsuit, Hulkko said at the time and says the same now.
Evening News published the story, in which Hulkko said that he received outrageous feedback about his video. At the same time, he justified professional sports that pay for media exposure, even though the dark sides of social media are sometimes even unnerving.
– Maybe we, as a society, have an obligation to change how other people’s actions can be commented on. And many athletes have taken a stand on it.
Hulkko continues to emphasize that young athletes always find themselves in a tough spot when they become professional athletes. Nowadays, it is almost mandatory to be visible on social media.
Hulkko believes that the young athlete is very alone when he starts looking for his brand and building his personal image in the media.
– It is challenging, and there is no ready-made recipe for it. Maybe we, as a sports community, should be more supportive of those young people at that point.
Next up is the holiday
Hulko’s sights are on the 2024 Paris Olympics. In his main sport of 100 meters breaststroke, the qualifying limit is 1:06.79.
This year, Hulko’s best performance on that trip has been the winning time of 1:07.94 in the WC swimming. The Olympic limit is also being sought in the World Cup pool. The swimmer would also like to go to Japan again, where the Summer Olympics were held in 2021.
– The competitions are in Fukuoka. We were there at the preparatory camp for Tokyo, but because of the corona pandemic, we didn’t get to see much. We are going to pre-camp in Hiroshima, so it will definitely be an interesting trip.
After the World Championships, Hulkko will take at least three weeks off from top sports. He states that after the overload he learned the importance of recharging. On vacation, you can camp in Mikkeli and relax in your own first home in Tampere.
– At the end of June, we were able to move into our own, first joint, apartment with my common-law partner. I hope that after the games I could just enjoy my own home.
After the holiday, Hulkko and the coach Jere Jännes continue to prepare for Paris. If the Olympic limit is not broken in the WC swimming, it will be aimed for in the next Games.
In the fall, Hulko is supposed to swim in the World Cup, at least one or two races, depending on how they fit into the schedule. In the Olympic year, the World Cup swims on a long course.
– With these prospects, we are about to skip the short course EC swimming in November, because the long course WC swimming is coming right away in February. This way you can concentrate on the long course, where you will also swim in the Olympics.
– I don’t go to all cat baptisms, and then I drown in that load again. Yes, that competition is completely under my control, so I don’t have to start every weekend.