Ida Hulkko will be able to swim again in the prestigious competitions after a long break. The short track World Championships will be held in Australia in mid-December.
Ida Hulko is facing the first competitions of the swimming season. The Short Course World Championships will be held in Melbourne from 13 to 18 December.
– They say that the condition is quite good. Last weekend, the traditional autumn flu struck, but it has been cleared up, so you can start finishing up towards the World Cup with a good mood, Hulkko said before leaving on Thursday evening.
The first competition trials this fall have been swimming with the handbrake still on.
– I have no time goals. The most important thing is to compete again. My mind is very involved, but the cycle of illness has made it difficult to train for long distances, but I believe that 50 meters will go with the old soles, Hulkko said.
Last year, Hulkko swam the 50-meter breaststroke silver in the long course of the European Championships and took 12th place in the 100-meter breaststroke at the Tokyo Olympics. At this year’s European Championships, he was not defending his medal, as mental and physical exhaustion stopped his momentum.
After the World Championships at the end of last June, Hulkko took several weeks of summer vacation.
– I ended the training season there, but at the same time a pretty bad cycle of illness hit. I took three courses of antibiotics and got pneumonia, so you can wonder how much you could vacation there. After them, you could start the new season with a clean slate.
– Last season taught us that no one is a machine.
– I imagined for a long time that I would be able to push forward and ignore the body’s messages, but at some point the limit will come. Now I know how to listen to my body better and I know how to be kind to myself.
Hulkko participated in the international ISL swimming league in the last two years. With that, he accumulated more than a hundred race starts last year. Was it too much?
– Yes, it was at least at that limit. I wouldn’t have been able to swim any longer. I do like to compete when there are those places.
Hulkko says that the difficulties have increased his motivation to compete.
– It was somehow so hard to admit that I had to take a few steps back, but when I had done that, I had a big longing for the pool and a longing to fight. It has brought more perspective.
Hulkko says that he expanded his circle of life by becoming an entrepreneur and studying English at the University of Tampere.
– For three years, swimming had been my main job in everyday life, and it had formed my identity to a great extent. Now other areas came to the fore, and with them, swimming feels even more valuable. Difficulties also brought out good things.