Swimmer With Matti Mattsson there is a kind of jubilee year going on. In August, it will be ten years since his first adult competition medal.
The 200-meter breaststroker won bronze at the 2013 Barcelona Long Course World Championships with his then Finnish record of 2:08.95. That time remained Mattsson’s record for almost eight years.
This weekend’s Helsinki Swim Meet is a memorable event for Mattsson, as he finished his record-breaking run there two years ago with a time of 2:08.51.
The race in question started a new direction in Mattsson’s career. A month later, he improved his SE time twice at the long track European Championships and was fourth in the final.
At the Tokyo Olympics, we saw an even stronger burst, when Mattsson improved his record by more than a second with a time of 2:07.13 and achieved Olympic bronze. Two Olympic medals came to Finland from Tokyo, as well as a boxer Mira Potkonen achieved bronze.
– The monkey that then left the back was really big. That moment gave me so much enthusiasm and faith in what I was doing, Mattsson recalls with a smile the Swim Meet competition a couple of years ago.
“The keys were going into the keyhole”
Mattsson’s last year was also successful in terms of prestigious competitions, although in terms of time it was not a perfect match like the Olympic year. Mattsson’s season best was 2:09.04, which is the ninth best time of his career.
For the second time in his career, he made it to the final of the long track World Championships, where he was eighth. At the long track European Championships held later in Rome, the Finn achieved the brightest medal of his career after taking silver.
However, the European Championship final left a lot for Mattsson. Britain’s James Wilby won gold with a time of 2:08.96.
Mattsson has swum eight times faster than the winning time in his career, so with a better result, the European championship would have been within reach.
After his World Championship bronze, Mattsson had several difficult years, so he knows how to put things into perspective.
– We went for the gold, but we have to be satisfied with the EC silver. If even 2018 had been for European Championship silver, it would have been a mental lottery win.
– You have to be satisfied with that silver, but let’s say that the keys were in hand and they were going into the lock hole. All you had to do was twist it open. However, we learn from everything.
This season’s biggest goal is the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan in July. Mattsson and the coach have an actual goal Eetu Karvonen however, have not set
– Eetu and I don’t talk much about results. When the results develop in training, we know that they should automatically show up in the competitions as well.
The Paris Olympic limit is 2:09.68.
– You don’t necessarily think of it as a separate thing. The limit will come when it’s about to come.
At least until the 2028 Olympics
Mattsson’s passion for elite sports is very strong. The 29-year-old Mattsson’s career will continue until the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
– Sometimes I wonder where the fire is coming from. During training, you can squeeze out a good performance. For some reason, torturing yourself feels good, Mattsson laughs.
Mattsson turns 30 in October. The Finn represented the most experienced guard in the World Cup finals last summer.
The competition was won by an Australian six years younger than Mattsson Zac Stubblety-Cook, who beat the 200 meter ME in 2:05.95 in the same season. He is also the reigning Olympic champion over the distance.
However, age is just a number in swimming. For example, the USA Anthony Ervin won the 50-meter freestyle Olympic gold seven years ago in Rio at the age of 35.
Although Mattsson’s 200-meter breaststroke Finnish record time of 2:07.13 is really hard, he believes that there is still room for improvement.
– You have to make sensible decisions in training and modify the training rhythm whenever necessary. Dudes in their twenties definitely train twice as much as you do. I think we have found a route with Eetu that will take my fitness forward.
The conversation in the dressing room was startling
There has been a lot of talk recently about the limited movement of children, young people and also adults. As a top athlete, Mattsson is a role model who wants to inspire people to move.
He is worried about the ever-worsening current trend. According to Mattsson, for example, swimming skills are not valued as much as before.
– It doesn’t matter if you hear from swimming teachers how the children have been able to skip elementary and middle school swimming times, which in the end are only a handful, with the help of their parents.
– We live in the land of thousands of lakes, so I think swimming skills are just as important as the mother tongue. We would learn to swim even the 200 meters.
Mattsson tells about a conversation between a father and son in a swimming pool locker room.
– The boy asked during the week of the autumn holidays, very excited, because we are coming again. Dad said we’ll come over Christmas break. I had a feeling bring that kid here next week so I can go swimming with him!
Mattsson says that compared to many other sports, swimming is an inexpensive hobby.
– Immobility will be a big dent in the state’s annual budget. It has been said that in 15 years a 50-year-old person will no longer be able to squat. At least in my own world of thought, they are big problems.