Dubai: UAE-based Serbian swimmer Velimir Stjepanovic is happy to be a dark horse heading into next month’s World Championships after pressure put paid to his Olympics.
The 23-year-old was expected to shine at Rio 2016 after finishing sixth in the 200-metre butterfly final at London 2012, and winning the 200-metre and 400-metre freestyle at the European Championships in Berlin in 2014.
However, he only reached one semi-final in three events in Brazil, and has since taken three months off, got married, and changed his coach.
“I’ve had a lot of changes this year and I don’t know how I’ve reacted to that yet, so I just want to go and enjoy myself, there’s no expectation or pressure,” he said of next month’s World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, from July 14-30.
“After London and Berlin I expected a lot more. I wanted to medal at the 2015 World Championships in Kazan and the 2016 Olympics, and I put a lot of pressure on myself to deliver, but it didn’t go well.
“I was physically prepared to swim extremely fast, but not mentally prepared. I had too much stress and anxiety.
“I felt like everyone was expecting, but really all that was in my head. Most people around me are just ecstatic that I even went to the Olympics let alone managed to become double European champion.”
Now Stjepanovic, born in Abu Dhabi and brought up in Dubai, where he attended Jumeirah College, says he’s gone back to basics with the help of new coach Sebastijan Higl who replaces Chris Tidey.
“I feel much better, I’m happier and enjoy what I’m doing and I’m just trying to ride that wave in terms of enjoying myself and doing what I love, which is swimming and competing.
“I’m not going to say I haven’t loved the last two years because I have but it was a lot of pressure and that took its toll.
“Now I want to get back into the mindset I had before I became double European champion, because I’m most comfortable being a dark horse and that’s the place I need to be, to be mentally prepared to swim well.”
Not having any expectations doesn’t mean he lacks ambition, however.
“I really want to get back in the water and prove that what I did in Berlin wasn’t a fluke and that what I’ve done in the past wasn’t for show and that I really can succeed in what I do.
“I believe I can do that, I just have to believe in myself and surround myself with good people and trust in what everyone around me is doing including myself.
“I’m not going to say nothing can happen at the worlds, and I’m not going to say that something will happen. I’ve got no gauge of where I’m at, but if I get close to my personal best that’s good enough to make the final and if you make a final anything can happen.
“I don’t want to put any more pressure on myself though. I just want to go there swim my own race and enjoy it. I simply want to race myself and get back to that point I was at before Berlin, getting close to or better than my best times.”
At the age of 23, and with most swimmers retiring around 28, Velimir still has time on his hands for redemption, but after what happened in Rio you won’t get him looking too far ahead to Tokyo 2020.
“After Berlin I effectively skipped the 2015 World Championships in Kazan in my mind because I put all my eggs in one basket for the Olympics and that didn’t work out for me, so now I want to take it one step at a time and go from there.”
