MOSCOW, August 6 (R-Sport) – It's unrealistic to expect Russia to compete with the United States in the swimming pool, three-time world champion Yulia Efimova said Tuesday.
The 21-year-old was the only bright spot for Russia at last week's world aquatics championships in Barcelona, winning her country's two gold medals in a competition dominated by the Americans, who took home 13.
“For now it is unrealistic for us to compete with the Americans,” said Efimova, who was triumphant in the 50-meter and 200-meter breaststroke. “We don’t have such conditions or coaches.”
Spearheading the American charge was Missy Franklin, who won six golds, and 16-year-old prodigy Katie Ledecky, who took four. Five-time Olympic champion Ryan Lochte clinched three gold medals.
Underlining her point, Grozny native Efimova been training with renowned U.S. coach Dave Salo in Los Angeles for the past two years, helping her win a silver medal at the London Olympics last year.
Efimova’s teammate Evgeny Korotyshkin, who won a London silver in the 100m butterfly but was only fifth in Barcelona, pointed to a shallow talent pool in Russia.
“Only three people in our team can fight for the medals, all the others may only be able to help in relays,” Korotyshkin said. “At the same time, the Americans have Olympic champions over all the distances.”
Others struck a less pessimistic note, however, with Team Russia coach Anatoly Zhuravlev content with the eight-medal haul from an inexperienced team.
