In elite competitions, such as the Olympic Games, Lithuania has had several marathon runners.
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But swimming is different. Our country has never had elite swimmers capable of swimming the longest distances quickly in the pool and even longer distances in open water.
Džiugas Miškinis wants to change this trend.
“It’s sad that Lithuania lacks swimmers who swim such distances, there is no one to train with. Open water swimming is a growing sport worldwide, it would be wonderful if there were more swimmers in Lithuania,” said the 21-year-old from Kaunas, studying in the USA.
At the European Championships in Paris, he is one of 19 Lithuanian swimmers, but the only one who swims the longest distances – 800 and 1500 m.
In the spring at the Indy Spring Cup, the University of Kentucky representative completed the 1500 m freestyle in 15 min 11.86 sec, improving his own Lithuanian record by almost 10 seconds.
On Tuesday at the European Championships, Džiugas Miškinis swam a less favorable event for himself – 800 m and took 19th place, completing the distance in 8 min 1.12 sec.
Although he shaved about three seconds off his best performance and was close to the Lithuanian record (7 min 59.34 sec – held by Danas Rapšys), he was disappointed with the result because after the effort put in at the camp in the Sierra Nevada highlands in Spain, he expected more.
“Oh yes. Knowing how I trained in the mountains and how I felt, I definitely expected it to be better,” Džiugas Miškinis said after the finish. “It was quite tough. After the mountain camp, I lacked speed.
I tried to speed up, but the laps were the same, the swimming was monotonous, I couldn’t break out of it. Maybe I looked a bit sleepy, I hope to swim better in the 1500 m after three days.”
Participating in the European Championships for the second time, the swimmer from Kaunas is like a white crow in the pools.
Most choose sprint events of 50 and 100 meters, others compete in 200 m, and a few swim 400 m freestyle or medley.
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Throughout the country’s swimming history, Lithuania has won medals in several swimming styles and even more distances, but has never succeeded in elite competitions in the 800 or 1500 m events.
“You need a good group to push each other. Iron sharpens iron. When there isn’t a big group training for the 1500 m swim, that’s how it is,” said Džiugas Miškinis. “Besides, such a distance requires a lot of time in the pool, a lot of effort and knowledge on how to train, and in Lithuania, this is not yet developed.”
Despite this, he himself gladly takes on long swims in competitions and training.
“What fascinates me is that you have to be able to swim insane distances, accumulate a large mileage, while also maintaining speed. You have to combine everything for the 1500 m distance.
It may not be interesting to watch, it may seem monotonous, but the distance itself, for example, 1500 m, is interesting because you need to wisely distribute your strength, execute various details, like in any swimming, ” said Džiugas Miškinis. “And in open water, it’s even more interesting – there’s constant action: you’re always chasing someone, or overtaking someone, or hitting someone on the head, or getting hit yourself. There’s always action. Maybe it’s just not as interesting to watch as it is to swim.”
Long distances require a lot of groundwork.
Sprint swimmers swim less than 30 kilometers per week.
Džiugas Miškinis usually swims 70 kilometers per week. He trains 9-10 times a week, and during one session covers 7-8 kilometers.
“That’s twice as much (as sprint swimmers), but the nature of the work is different – they do more intense workouts, and my workouts include more easy swimming, where I combine aerobic skills with speed,” Džiugas Miškinis explained.
Before the pool swimming competitions, which take place in Paris from August 10-16, open water swimming events were held in the Seine River in the French capital.
There were races of 5 km and 10 km. Lithuania very rarely has a representative in such competitions.
Džiugas Miškinis tried to compete in open water championships two years ago in Austria.
“That was the first and so far the last attempt. We’ll see how it goes in the future, but right now it would be impossible for me to combine it with the American schedule. I study at university, I have to represent my swimming team and I can’t travel to swimming stages that take place in autumn, winter, and spring. At the moment, these things don’t align,” said the swimmer studying electrical engineering at the University of Kentucky.
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