Read the interview (in English) here on herning2013.com
Lotte Friis’ (DEN) worst nightmare became reality at the Olympics in 2012 – what she expected to be her greatest success ever became her biggest disappointment. The year after the Olympics was rough but this year Lotte swam a fantastic 800m and 1500m free at the World Championships in Barcelona – showing herself, and everybody else, that she is still a swimmer to count on!
It is not a secret that you had a hard time finding the motivation to continue your swimming career since, what you called your worst nightmare became reality at the Olympics in 2012. But what have you actually done in order to move on?
– I moved to Nice. Living in another country, new surroundings, a new culture, a new coach, new friends and other people to train with – all this made me happier, got me new motivation, made me want to swim again in order to show the world that I was still a swimmer to count on.
Since you moved to Nice in 2012 your results have been improving and latest you swam an outstanding swim in the 800 free and a thrilling 1500 free against American Katie Ledecky at the World Championships in Barcelona. In August you headed to NORTH Baltimore, USA to train under the well-known Bob Bowman. Why did you decide to move from Nice and why was NORTH Baltimore the right choice for you?
– I was told that in Nice the training this autumn would not be as intensive as I wanted, due to the fact that Europeans in Herning is not a priority to the Nice-swimmers and a lot of new swimmers was to be included at the Elite team in the Club. Since I wanted to be 100% ready for Herning, Nick and I decided that I had to swim somewhere else for the rest of 2013. At World Cup in august, I talked to some of the swimmers from Baltimore. I met Bob Bowman and I had a long talk with him and then it was decided that I should go to Baltimore to train in NBAC.
Image courtesy of Peter Harry, CC BY-SA 2.0
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