Swimming legend Jani Sievinen is making a comeback.
Jani Sievinen makes a short comeback in new circles. Pete Anikari
Swimming legend Jani Sievinen returns to compete after a 20-year break. However, the former world champion will not be seen on the track, instead he will compete in the Puruvesi Swim open water swimming event organized in Savonlinna at the end of June.
The 52-year-old Sievinen ended his career with a short track at the European Championships in 2006, but now the blood was drawn back to compete. Sievinen tells Iltalehti that there is no greater factor behind the big decision than interest and curiosity.
– Well, this was an event I wanted to participate in. I have not participated in an open water event before, but there is nothing strange about it, he said.
Although the event is very different from what Sievinen has done during his racing career, he is happy about the new opportunity.
– I’m in a really good mood. It’s nice to go for a dip, Sievinen told Iltalehte.
The biggest goal is already clear, and it’s not much of a surprise.
– Nautinto, Sievinen sums up succinctly.
The swimmer confirms that he sets out to pursue a good mood rather than concrete results.
Sievinen’s swimming career was successful. PDO
The former champion has received great support from his supporters for participating, but the encouragement has even crossed family boundaries. According to Sievinen, the support he receives is very large-scale.
– People have approached terribly. They have had an extraordinary amount of fun, even if it was a big event, Sievinen laughed.
– It warms you up to see and hear.
The training process hasn’t made Sievinen’s head dizzy either. According to him, you can still count the number of training times on the fingers of two hands, and there is no intention of going any further than that.
– I have gone swimming five times. I was thinking of visiting for the sixth and seventh time, he grunted.
– Sufficient self-confidence has been gathered from those times.
So what does Sievine expect from the event?
– I can’t really say. You can’t really set goals when you don’t know which way the wind is blowing and what the route is like.
In the Purovesi Swim event, the 2.5-kilometer, five- and ten-kilometer distances will be started. Sievinen participates in the shortest of the trips. The event will be swam on June 27.
Sievinen achieved enormous success in his racing career. The Finn, who held the ME time in the 200-meter medley for years, won, among other things, five world championships, eight World Cup medals and Olympic silver in his career. A whopping 22 medals were collected from the European Championship, of which 12 were gold.