Veera Kivirinta proved again that he is a big-time swimmer, as he managed to dig out his best performances at the World Championships in Fukuoka. He swam his new record of 30.33 in the preliminaries of the morning’s 50-meter breaststroke, and was only a couple of tenths short of this in the semi-finals, as his final time was 30.56. Lithuania in the same semi-finals Ruta Meilutyte set a world record for the distance of 29.30.
Kivirinta was 13th in the final results, and this was the second highest result of the Finnish team in the World Championships. Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Matti Mattsson finished 10th in the 200m breaststroke.
Kivirinta admitted that he had a lot of pressure in his neck in the morning and the race was very stressful. However, the morning swim took the tension away, even though nothing came of the nap while waiting for the semi-final, and he was able to enjoy the semi-final swim more.
– It left me a little cold when I swam harder in the morning, but that is my third all-time time, so it’s not bad, Kivirinta told Urheilu.
Kivirinta was almost completely satisfied with his semi-final swim, but he found room for improvement in the performance of the last seven meters.
– The finish in the morning was absolutely fantastic, in the semi-final you had to play hard how to hit that wall. However, the swimming was better than I could have expected from the whole Games.
Finland’s toughest sprinters
Swimming head coach Eetu Karvonen not surprised by Kivirinna’s place in the semi-finals, because he thinks he succeeds – or rather surpasses himself – always in the most important place.
– For some reason, Veera always exudes self-confidence and focus on his own performance in value competitions. He is one of Finland’s toughest sprinters throughout history, Karvonen praised.
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Kivirinta told Urheilu before the World Championships, among other things, about his burn out and how busy his everyday life has been when he has combined his studies to become a police officer with elite sports. He ended up skipping the World Championship in Pori in June in order to be in shape for the World Championship.
After his main trip, Kivirinta was able to state that he had made the right decision.
– This even feels a bit like a dream. I’ve had a tough last ten months with internships and studies. I haven’t trusted myself, I’ve gone to thousands of pieces during these ten months and my energy has been really low, really powerless, Kivirinta said.
– I haven’t felt like I’ve been myself, but in the last month and a half I’ve gotten my energy back. I’ve been really energetic here too, which I haven’t been in probably a year.
Kivirinta plans to enjoy herself for another couple of days, because when she arrives in Finland on Tuesday, everyday life will hit her face again. He will return to school on Wednesday and will have to write his thesis.
Kivirinta has decided that she will only return to the pool when she has finished her thesis. However, it is certain that his career will continue.
– I thought that these competitions give a little direction to what is done. I got to next year’s World Championships in Doha after breaking the limit, so at least there are those competitions and of course the Romanian (short track) European Championships, he reflected.
– I should graduate in October. There’s not exactly a vacation here, but life is full of choices and I’ve made my own.
Sjöström has an efficient 20-minute in the WC pool
Swedish swimmer Sarah Sjostrom scooped the women’s 50m freestyle world record 23.61 in the semi-finals.
Sjöström’s former ME was 23.67 from the 2017 WC swims in Budapest. The final competition of the Altantaanmita freestyle swim will be held on Sunday.
– I promised my coach that I would swim a world record today. It’s his birthday, Sjöström said in an interview at the World Championships right after his swim.
Sjöström had a high-quality twenty-minute session in Saturday’s evening session, because shortly before his ME swim, he rushed to the 50-meter butterfly WC gold. Sjöström won the butterfly with a time of 24.77 and took the fifth consecutive world championship in the sport.
In total, Sjöström has swum the long course for 20 individual world championships, with which he shares the American Michael Phelps record.
– I feel like I enjoy swimming more than ever, Sjöström said according to news agency TT.