Veera Kivirinta arrives at the main entrance of Helsinki’s Mäkelänrinne swimming hall exactly at the agreed time at 6:45.
Normally, he shows up for morning rehearsals at five instead of seven, but at the journalist’s request, he was ready to wake up a little earlier for filming.
Every minute of rest and recovery is important to Kivirinna, who competes at Europe’s top level in breaststroke sprint distance and at the same time works full-time as a senior constable in the Helsinki police.
On the day of the interview, Kivirinna’s working day as a police officer starts after swimming and gym exercises at 1:00 p.m. with the distribution of orders and ends late in the evening after the patrol shift.
– There is hardly any time left for anything extra, Kivirinta laughs.
Kivirinta considered stopping as early as 2020
The beginning of Kivirinna’s police career fell on 2020, when his results level declined and his belief in doing things waned.
Several years had already passed since the fifth place of the 2016 Long Course European Championships in London, and in the prestigious competitions that followed London, Kivirinna’s fate was mostly to be eliminated from the continuation swimming due to the land quota, Jenna Laukkanen and Ida Hulkon to be faster.
When her studies began at the University of Applied Sciences in October 2020, Kivirinta, who had seriously considered ending her competitive career, moved to Tampere and gave swimming one more chance in the ranks of TaTU, Jere Jännens in coaching.
– Then that swimming took off so terribly that it looks like we’re still here, says Kivirinta.
Rise to the top of Europe
After starting her studies and work, Kivirinta has reached the best rankings of her career and improved her own records, which has fueled her motivation to continue.
After 2020, he has been fifth in the European Championships in both the long and short course, swam twice in the finals of the short course World Championships and twice in the semi-finals of the World Championships in the long course.
There are many individual factors behind the leap in development, many of which are related to everyday life in Tampere colored by swimming and studying.
– You don’t have to think about swimming all the time. I believe that when there is another important thing in life besides sports, it affects swimming and sports a lot, Kivirinta opens.
The study rhythm could be modified according to practices, camps and competitions. In Tampere, I found new friends, a like-minded swimming club and a new stimulus from training under the leadership of Jännes.
In addition, the studies and work after graduation brought financial security to the athlete, who has never once received direct financial support from the Finnish Olympic Committee in his career.
A demanding dual career is taxing
Mäkelänrinne’s swimming pool has become familiar to Kivirinna after she moved to Helsinki for an internship in 2022. After graduation, she stayed in Helsinki because she got a permanent position with the Helsinki police.
Currently, training plans are drawn on the board in the hall Matti Mäkibut Kivirinta itself bears the greatest responsibility for the whole.
Mental and physical load accumulates from both day jobs, which is not an easy equation.
– I have been tired more than ever in the last year. Even though the numbers have decreased due to work, I have had to do a lot of work inside my own head. It has been hard and tough, but also rewarding. And yes, it can be seen in the results that this has been quite good, even though sometimes I feel like I can’t really cope.
In addition to morning swimming, Kivirinna’s interview day includes an hour of gym training and an evening shift in the patrol car. The next day, the same pattern repeats itself. Shift work determines when Kivirinta can train and rest.
– Recovery is what you have to cut out the most of all. If I have that free time, I use it for things that are important to me and to rest, which is then also away from my close circle.
The career will continue at least until the summer – the dream of a medal motivates
Kivirinta knows that he cannot concentrate on two careers one hundred percent for very long.
So far it has been successful, with the employer being flexible and adjusting the training plan, but the end point of the swimming career is approaching.
The reduced amount of training has meant an even clearer focus on the 50-meter distance than before, which has meant burying Kivirinna’s Olympic dream.
However, the 2024 long track season can accommodate two other prestigious races: the World Championships in Doha in February and the European Championships in Serbia in the summer.
They may be the last of Kivirinna’s career, but he has not made a final decision. One big motivator is the prize medal, which is still missing from the trophy cabinet. The most recent attempt ended with the already familiar fifth place for the swimmer at the European Short Course Championships in Romania in December.
– Yes, it tickles me. I probably don’t want anything else but that medal, Kivirinta reveals with a laugh.
– On the other hand, I’m 28 years old and I also dream about those other things in life. It would also be nice to be able to focus on police work more than now. We’ll see if my swimming career ends in the summer. Big decisions should be made, Kivirinta concludes.