MOSCOW, April 15 (R-Sport) - London 2012 may still be fresh in the memory, but Russian swimmer Nikita Lobintsev already has his sights set on the next Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Lobintsev, 24, is desperate to improve upon a silver and bronze medal in the last two Games, both won in relay events. So much so, that the Yekaterinburg native has moved his training base to the United States.
"My goal is the Olympic Games. If that weren't the aim, I wouldn't have moved to the U.S.," he told R-Sport. "World and European championships are great of course, but the Olympics is something entirely different."
Lobintsev intends to make a splash at what could be his last Games, when he will be struggling to retain his peak form at 27.
"It could be that this will be my final Olympics, although I wouldn't necessarily bet on it, but I would definitely like to prepare for it in America for these three years," he said.
Lobintsev, one of five Russians to train at Dave Salo's Trojan Swim Club in southern California, said the benefits of crossing the ocean are manifold.
"With the move everything changed," he said. "Now I want to run to training sessions. ... I love everything there. Nothing distracts me. I won't even mention the open-air pool, the fresh air, the excellent climate, and I'm in better health," he said.
"The only bad thing is that I'm really far from home. ... I try not to leave Russia for too long."
Lobintsev said he intends to compete at this summer's world championships in Barcelona.
He won a silver at the 2008 Beijing Games as part of Russia's 4x200 meter relay team, and a bronze in London in the 4x100 team.
