articles

Russian homeland gave swimmer desire to excel

By Jeff D'Alessio, Florida Today
4 July 2004

Next month in Athens, Lenny Krayzelburg will try to repeat his three gold-medal feat of the 2000 Sydney Games.

That is, assuming he makes the U.S. Olympic swimming team.

"No matter how favored you are, I've always felt that the U.S. Olympic trials in swimming are sometimes harder than the actual Olympic Games," the 28-year-old backstroke specialist said.

Krayzelburg & Co. will try to earn a spot in the Athens Games starting Wednesday, when the trials begin in Long Beach, Calif.

We caught up with the Russian-born Southern Cal grad to talk about his Athens aspirations, growing up in a communist country and more.

FT: How do you say "gold medal" in Russian?

LK: Zolotaya medal.

FT: Gotcha. What would you say is the greatest misperception about your home country?

LK: Mass America thinks we come from a very poor and uneducated country. At least that's what I've come across sometimes. That really isn't the case. From politics to sports to arts, anything, you see a lot of very talented people come from that country. I think people still don't realize how rich and wealthy it is, starting with natural resources and then with culture and athletes and painters and ballet dancers and writers. You can go on and on and on.

FT: You've said in the past that growing up under communism in the Soviet system helped make you who the swimmer you are today. How so?

LK: The Soviet sports system was all about finding the talent at a really young age. It was basically a mass production factory -- having a lot of kids in sports and finding the single number of those that would be good enough to compete at an international level and represent the Soviet Union. So the intensity, the work ethic, the dedication that we had to learn at 9, 10, 11 years old was something that stuck with me for the rest of my life and has really helped me quite a bit get to a high level in this country.

FT: How much of your parents' decision to move to the United States had to do with your future as a swimmer?

LK: It had some to do with it. I don't want to say it had everything to do with that because I also have a younger sister and they obviously thought about her future, as well as mine. It was more of a decision to give the family better opportunities in life.

FT: What was your outside-looking-in impression of America?

LK: When I was a little kid, we were always told in Russia that Americans don't like Russians and we don't like Americans. But as a 10- and 11-year-old, you don't really get too much into politics.

FT: Did your opinion change once you got over here?

LK: Once I came to this country, I've always appreciated what this country's all about and the opportunities it gives. No question about that. You formulate educated opinions when you get older. Growing up in this country, I only have positive impressions about it.

FT: Did you go into the 2000 Olympics thinking, "I'm going to win three golds"?

LK: Absolutely. I was favored to win both of my individual events and I was part of the relay. Anything less would have been extremely disappointing. But there's no guarantees in sports.

FT: What would you be happy with in Athens?

LK: First, I've had a number of injuries the past couple of years, so for me, I'd be extremely excited to make the team. Just making the team for the U.S. puts you in the position to win a gold medal in Athens. I do have a little bit tougher fight than I did have four years ago, no question about that. But I'd like to think that my experience, competing at this level and the success that I've had, would give me an edge.

FT: USA softball star Lisa Fernandez told us recently she's "looking forward to using these Olympics as an avenue, hopefully, to change the perception of what the USA's all about." How about you?

LK: How can you do that?

FT: Good question.

LK: I don't know how to do that. All you try to do is try to represent yourself and your country with the greatest of honor, but we try to do that every single day. You're trying to go through life being a positive individual. You do that anyway and we'll do that on foreign soil.

FT: What's in your CD player these days?

LK: I listen mostly to Russian music, so anything I would tell you, you would not know. I have some Italian romantic songs, some techno mix and a bunch of Russian singers.

FT: What do you do for fun when you're not swimming?

LK: I like to hang out with my friends, with my fiancee, go to nice restaurants, watch movies and spend a lot of time on the Internet. I like the stock market. I have a degree in finance and that aspect really fascinates me. I'm on the Internet a couple hours a day following things.

FT: What's your favorite movie of all-time?

LK: It'd have to be between "The Godfather" and "Once Upon A Time In America."

FT: You're not really a Lakers fan, are you?

LK: Yes. Don't hate that.

FT: If you were running the show and you could keep one star, who would you take -- Shaq or Kobe?

LK: Kobe. With the talent and the potential that Kobe has, there's a lot greater value. I think you can get more value for Shaquille now than you could two, three years down the road.

FT: What the heck happened to your team in the NBA Finals?

LK: Detroit was the better team. That's the bottom line. I don't know, maybe the system Phil Jackson was running with the triangle offense is too old. I look at myself and compare myself to four years ago. The way I used to swim my races, I was the only person in the world swimming certain splits. No one would come close. The reality is that people have closed the gap because they've learned to do it the way I've done it. Maybe you can relate that to basketball, where teams have adjusted to the triangle offense.

You have to grow, even if the system works. Like John Wooden once said, "You can never reach 100 percent perfection."

Article orginally located at Florida Today

back to articles