Swimming World Championships 2003, Barcelona.
The last name Seppälä appears first at the end of the track. The number one adorns the front of the name. Commentator Hannu-Pekka Hänninen eager for well-deserved applause.
Although Hanna-Maria Seppälä had been responsible for the fastest time in the heats and semi-finals of the 100-meter freestyle, the young swimmer’s world championship came as a big surprise to many Finns 20 years ago. At the same time, she became the first Finnish woman to win the world swimming championship.
We can talk Wilma Murron From an exciting sporting moment like the European Championship gold. The disbelief also shone on the face of the winner who knew his talent at the finish line.
– It’s crazy to say that it wouldn’t have been a big surprise for the Finnish people, swimming expert Ville Kallinen remembers.
The ex-athlete, now known as Hanna-Maria Hintsa, had achieved good results even before her World Championship gold. However, for the 18-year-old high school student, the world championship was a significant turning point in his career.
Hintsa became a well-known name outside the sports media as well.
– I’m clearly an introverted person, so I wasn’t used to everyone paying attention to me. However, it made many things possible. Got partners and recognition, through that a lot of things became easier. We just had to handle the publicity correctly, says Hintsa.
Hintsa’s background team helped with everything. The coach’s mother was the most important supporter Mirjami Seppälä.
– Uimaliito’s head coach was also there Peter Laine, with whom I worked closely. In addition, there were many others on the team who were supportive. They somehow tried to protect me from the riot that was around it. I was in no way prepared for it.
The best time of my life
The publicity and spotlight was really enough immediately. At the end of 2003, he was chosen Sportsman of the Year. Hintsa was also involved in the Linna’s celebrations.
For a long time, it has been characteristic of Finnish sports that we have young super-promisers who are successful in prestigious youth competitions, but who nevertheless have considerable difficulties in reaching the top of the adult ranks.
What makes Hanna-Maria Hintsa exceptional is that she won the World Championship gold for adults at the age of 18, but was able to stay at a good international level for several years after that.
18-year-old Hintsa’s situation was also considered balanced by a sports psychologist. Finnish sports started to talk about such things properly only later.
At Hintsa, the sports psychologist was a part of everyday sports since the age of 14–15.
– The longer my career lasted, the more important part it became in the whole, Hintsa feels.
Hintsa from Kerava was at the Mäkelänrinne sports high school at the time of his world championship. He enrolled in matriculation that fall.
All the pieces were in place for sports success.
– It has been the best time of my life. I invested more in sports than studying back then. It was easy to do, which was also reflected in the results.
What separates the winner from the others?
After her World Championship gold, Hanna-Maria Hintsa won 16 short and long track race medals. A handsome and long swimming career ended in 2016.
One of the highlights of Hintsa’s career is also the fourth place at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Many people only remember the medalists, but on Hintsa’s scale of values, this achievement is very high.
– I personally rate fourth place at the Olympics on the same line as the world championship. However, the Olympics are only once every four years. There has been tremendous pressure and tough competitors next to me, but I have still managed to finish fourth, Hintsa thinks.
At the age of 18, Hintsa was still searching for her own identity. The value of the achievement did not fully unfold for the young athlete.
What is empowering for an athlete is when you get to hear what kind of impact your own performances have had.
– I study medicine in Milan. People have found out there somewhere that hey, Was that you who was in the Olympics many times and has won the world championship.
– After all, the world championship is something that others don’t have. It’s great that I have something so great in my background, Hintsa rejoices.
Olympic swimming takes place on a long, 50-meter course, so swimmers who have been successful in the long course World Championships, for example, are highly valued. After his World Championship gold, Hintsa won an individual medal on the long track only once.
He is still the last Finnish swimmer to reach World Cup gold on the Olympic journey. After him Matti Mattsson has reached the WC bronze at his best.
Hintsa is a perfect example of what separates a winner from the rest.
– It’s the long-term work. A good team supports what to do around. You have to have a certain kind of talent. The head lasts in a hard place, says Hintsa.
The athlete’s profession was questioned
The idea of becoming a doctor was already in Hintsa’s mind when he was a top athlete in his twenties. He realized that combining the medical profession and a swimming career is not possible, at least in Finland.
Over the years, the relationship between sports and studies has been discussed in Finland. It has been considered important to throw ourselves into both at the same time.
400m hurdler Viivi Lehikoinen told Urheilu in August about his thoughts as a top Finnish athlete. According to him, being a professional athlete is not a respected career choice in Finnish society.
Hintsa, who was one of the most visible Finnish athletes of the early 2000s, sees that athletes today are given the opportunity to do both or focus on sports entirely.
It was different 20 years ago.
– When you said that you do sports as a profession, they asked what you do for a living. It was such a dig. I think the conversation has improved.
During his career, Hintsa saw the world. The nuances related to the appreciation of sports did not go unnoticed.
– In Australia, for example, the appreciation of sports was presented in a completely different way than in Finland. When I went to the store and someone saw a swimming bag, they came to talk and said wow, you’re a swimmer! This was not the case in Finland when I was younger, Seppälä recalls.
A person who can help
After his sports career ended, Hintsa had to search for his own identity for a while. He already asked advice from an alpine skier who ended his career in advance From Tanja Poutiainen-Rinte.
Hintsa was still in the middle of his studies at the Jyväskylä University of Physical Education.
– When my career ended in swimming, I continued my studies for almost the entire following year. It gave me more time to think about what I will do after my career, Hintsa opens.
The idea of a doctor’s profession became stronger. 38-year-old Hintsa’s studies in Milan are halfway through. According to him, the same characteristics for a sports career and the medical profession are, for example, persistence and systematicity.
– When you took your final exams, you noticed whether you had studied all spring or just a couple of weeks before the exam. It was rewarding. It was the same in the swimming career.
Hintsa feels that he is currently pursuing a second sports career. The medical profession is a rollercoaster of emotions similar to sports. You never know when you might need a doctor’s help. There may be an accident or an unexpected illness.
– It would be wonderful to be the person who can raise their hand and say that I will help. That’s my goal.