The fourth competitive day of the International University Sports Festival was especially successful for the swimming team of the Volga Region University - the most numerous of all the teams of the university, whose representatives won "gold", "silver" and "bronze".
The first winner of the swimming tournament was Alexander Stepanov, a student of the Volga University, in the 400-meter freestyle. His teammate Anton Nikitin won bronze in the same swim, losing silver to Savely Luzin, a representative of the Ural Federal University.
“The atmosphere here, in Yekaterinburg, is wonderful,” Alexander Stepanov shared his impressions. - I understood that many of my rivals had time to recover before this start, and my rest is still ahead, since I took part in the Russian Open Water Swimming Cup, so I expected a fight. But, to my own surprise, he was in good shape. Now I am already in anticipation of a vacation that will allow me to conquer new peaks in the future.”
“In the Festival Village, you can feel the atmosphere of international competitions, which I really missed,” added Anton Nikitin. - I rate today's final at "five with a minus." I am glad that Sasha represents our university. Together we won first and third places. Although, of course, it would be cool to take the first and second. I still have performances ahead of me in almost all relay races, as well as 200 and 800 meters freestyle.
At the end of the competition day, silver in the swimming pool was won by Angelina Kornilova, Irina Krasilnikova, Dina Kiramova and Irina Zlobina in the 4x200 freestyle relay.
Before that, in individual heats, Irina Krasilnikova became fourth in the 400-meter freestyle, and Irina Zlobina and Dina Kiramova, literally eight minutes before the start of the relay, successfully performed in the semi-finals and qualified for the final heat for 100 meters on the back.
“The relay race was quite difficult,” admitted Irina Zlobina. - Dina Kiramova and I swam in the final stages - the third and fourth, and a few minutes before that we participated in the semi-final swims on the back. To show a good result in the relay, both of us had to give all our strength. Fatigue, of course, had an effect, and we swam worse than we could, but a decent level of competition pleases. Together with Dina, we will try to do our best during tomorrow's final. In general, the festival is going well - new facilities, excellent entertainment events. Sport in our country continues to develop, no matter what.”
Text: Daria Bezzubova
Photo: MFUS Directorate
