Having improved her self-confidence, Laura Lahtinen swims hard times. Jani Sievinen made a harsh assessment of Finnish swimming ability.
11:00•Updated 11:30
Finnish swimming legend Jani Sievinen quoted earlier this week by a swimmer Laura Lahtinen the recent wonderful mood on the short track.
Lahtinen made a massive record improvement in his main event in the 200-meter butterfly at the Shanghai World Cup over the weekend. The 21-year-old Finn improved his Finnish record from two years ago by exactly two seconds with a time of 2:03.13.
In addition, in the 100-meter butterfly, he achieved his first World Cup victory and improved his SE time by as much as 1.3 seconds.
– A rare treat in Finnish sports. Similar times will be fought for medals at the World Championships in December, Sievinen praised Lahtinen’s achievements.
In the short course World Championships, with Lahtinen’s record time, the medals are really being swum. Two years ago in Melbourne, 2:03.94 was enough for bronze in the 200-meter butterfly. In his most recent SE time, Lahtinen would have swam gold, because it was taken by the USA Dakota Luther with a time of 2:03.37.
Lahtinen’s previous Finnish record in the 200-meter butterfly was from the World Championships two years ago. At that time, the Finn reached the finals of the adult competition for the first time in his career, finishing eighth in the final competition (2.06.48).
Even though short course competitions swimming on a 25-meter course are not the most popular internationally, from a Finn’s point of view, Lahtinen’s leap to becoming a medal contender is still significant.
The last time a Finn won medals at the short track World Championships was 16 years ago. Five Finnish swimmers have reached medals.
Measure of an Olympic medalist
Lahtinen is taken from Sievinen’s words. He shared the publication of Finland’s best swimmer in his stories section of Instagram.
This week, Lahtinen continues the World Cup in South Korea. Next week, the Asian tour continues in Singapore.
– Thanks to Jan. I haven’t really thought about the World Cup yet, because I’m trying to finish this tour with glory. Of course I know those are really hard times. If you can repeat things like that, anything is possible, Lahtinen tells Urheilu.
The long-course value competitions are therefore the most prestigious in swimming, but that does not mean that the short-course competitions are not at a high level. In Lahtinen’s 200-meter record swim, the star swimmer swam the top time in the world statistics Reghan Smith.
The 22-year-old American was the Olympic runner-up in that sport in Paris. He also achieved two other individual Olympic medals.
For Lahtinen, Smith is an excellent example of where the real top of the world goes. The Finn is third in the world statistics.
– That’s why I came here, that I can really swim against the toughest in the world. In the 200m butterfly I get a few races with Reghan. In China, I stayed very fast almost until the end.
– There is no better way to increase self-confidence. I don’t know if Reghan is at the World Cup or if he is too tired after the World Cup.
The excitement was over
Self-confidence is a key factor behind Lahtinen’s new development leap. He used to stress the competitions way too much.
– The problem for me was that I could tense up for many hours before the competition. When the race started, I was really tired. Exciting for a long time is really hard.
Lahtinen praises the sports psychologist For Laura Koivusalowith whom he has collaborated for several years.
Lahtinen says that self-confidence could be even better, but it is now at a sufficient level. Before the start, the Finn thinks that he can succeed.
– We have practiced in training so that today in the morning there is a competitive situation and tonight there is a competitive situation. I have to rest day or night, and not think about the future competition situation. Training has become routine so that competition situations are not so stressful anymore.
Lahtinen’s situation as a whole has been better for a long time. Lahtinen graduated in the summer.
– I have been able to focus a little more on just swimming. Anyway, I’ve tried to adapt to the things that suit me better. Home training has also been beneficial, says Lahtinen.