Czech swimmer Barbora Seemanová was also preparing for her third Olympics in the x-bionic® sphere
Czech swimmer Barbora Seemanová (24) was also preparing for her third Olympics in the x-bionic® sphere. When the Prague born swimmer comes to train in Šamorín, you will find her admiring the horses in the rare moments of free time between her demanding training sessions. And if there happen to be any equestrian events taking place, she is probably sitting in the stands with bated breath. She likes the resort not only because she can find everything she needs under one roof. But also because of her beloved horses.
You have won your third Olympiad. Was it different than the previous ones?
I found myself at my first Olympics as a young, sixteen-year-old ear. I didn’t go there with any expectations, just to try it out and “rock out”. I was already heading to the Tokyo Olympics with a certain goal in mind, but the Games were in an anxious atmosphere because of the pandemics- lots of measures, lots of testing, the stress of possibly testing positive for covid… The Games in Paris were the first “normal” Olympics for me, with everything that goes along with it. I wanted to improve my personal best at them.
Why did you train for the Paris Olympics at the x-bionic® sphere?
It was important for me to save as much time and energy as possible before the Olympics. Time in particular is precious to me. Just getting to and from the pool can cut quite a lot of time out of my day that I could have invested in recovery, physiotherapy, etc. That’s why my coach and I were looking for a resort where everything was in one place, under one roof – pool, gym, accommodation, meals, wellness. There are not many such places in Europe. We wanted to concentrate as much as possible on what we were doing. And in the x-bionic® sphere the conditions are really great. The fact that it’s close to home was also a factor in my choice.
Food, accommodation, swimming pool, gym…were you satisfied?
Excited. Except that the pool was a bit crowded, as I was preparing for the Olympics during the summer season and, understandably, everyone wants to be by the water. However, my coach and I agreed that, unlike my usual practice in the Czech Republic, no one in Šamorín was crawling in my lane. I don’t know if it’s a different mentality, but people respected me when I was training. Or they watched me and cheered for me, it was nice. When I train at home in Prague-Podolí, people get on my nerves, it’s not nice, you can’t concentrate then. Besides, you have a huge fully equipped gym in the x-bionic® sphere. And for the fact that Olympick is actually a canteen for masses of people, they cook very well. The spa is a bonus. I love it here, in short.
What did your preparation consist of before the Olympics in Paris?
For the last two weeks I have been spending 4 to 4.5 half hours a day in the outdoor Olympic pool. In addition, I had a gym workout every day and thirty minutes before each workout I did a so-called compensation. It was a very demanding two weeks in terms of workload. The last, third week was lighter, the recovery increased and the number of training units decreased.
To what extent did your training simulate the conditions that awaited you afterwards?
To a large extent, it’s an important part of them. In practically every training session we simulated the pace that I then swam at during the race. In training in general, I also have bigger simulations when I swim a staggered race or swim two hundred meters full out. It depends on what part of training I am in. For example, if I swam two hundred meters full in training the week before the Olympics, it would be the same as if I were doing a normal race. Before the Olympics, however, it would just tire me out.
Is mental training part of your preparation?
Yes, it is important to prepare mentally for the race. We try to simulate the stress that accompanies the race and work with the pressure. I have to test myself before the race to see what makes me feel good and what doesn’t. For example, when I need to go to bed the day before the race, when to get up the next day, what to eat and what not to eat and when. And then I go on autopilot. Even though it’s stressful, it’s still just a race and you know what to do. I know that if I want to put in a good performance, I’m not going to go for a walk around town the day before the race because my legs need to rest.
Do you have any pre-race rituals?
If I’m going to an important race, I have my headphones with me and listen to music. I don’t have a particular choice, it’s a variety of songs depending on my mood. And when I’m standing at the start, I always have the habit of kicking the starting block. I’m very superstitious, so I try not to get attached to any talismans or rituals. I do have an elephant from my mom that travels with me, but I don’t bring it to the pool.
Do you agree that fortune favours the prepared?
For me personally, time management is extremely important. I need to have things planned out, to know how long things will take me and how much time I need to build up. That’s why I drive to the race venue well in advance. We arrived in the Olympic Village three days before the race. I wanted to get a feel for the surroundings and conditions, to find out even such details as was the schedule and punctuality of the buses leaving for the pool, whether I needed a head covering or a different jacket, how long it would take me to get from my room to the cafeteria, and so on.
Some things can’t be planned and something can always “blow up”
Yes, one has to be prepared for unexpected circumstances as well. For example, if the bus to the pool is delayed on race day, I can’t let that derail my race performance.
Do you take your mental resilience to stress from the pool into your everyday life?
Thanks to swimming, I am more disciplined in everyday life, I can react quickly to different – even unpleasant – situations and I know how to cope. In case of an unpleasant situation, I have learned to stay calm, to believe that I can handle it and that there is definitely another solution. I think that since as elite athletes we are exposed to nonstop extreme performances in training and competitions, then in everyday life we are goal-oriented, we go all out, we don’t slack off and we are not used to slacking off. We are also able to control our emotions, which is a great asset in life.
What hobbies do you pursue when you’re not in the pool?
When it comes to creative things, knitting. I learned how to do it by following video tutorials on YouTube, I’ve already knitted a sweater for myself and now I’m knitting for my mom. And from active hobbies, it’s horseback riding. A year and a half ago I decided to learn to ride, so when we’re at a camp somewhere or at home, in my spare time I try to get in the saddle. I love animals and especially horses, it energizes me a lot. I don’t even have to ride, just being around them gives me energy.
So the x-bionic® sphere resort is the perfect place for you 🙂
Exactly! One weekend during my summer stay I was in the grandstand from Friday to Saturday watching the parkour races. I had to drag myself out of there. I could have sat there for six hours. I’m totally fascinated by horses and everything about them entertains me. The connection that a human can make with an animal is incredible.
What do you enjoy most about swimming?
Pushing the limits, pushing the body and pushing the times. The fact that you never actually reach your maximum potential and are still discovering it. One can always go further and work on oneself. And then I enjoy the feeling of confidence I have in the water. Among the disciplines, my favorite is my main discipline, the two hundred meter crawl. I concentrate on it the most, the other disciplines are complementary.
Is the two-hundred crawl less about explosiveness and more about endurance?
It’s not like swimming a hundred meters, which goes completely over a swimmer’s head. And neither is the eight hundred kraul, which is endurance. If someone swims a two hundred crawl, they have to have both endurance and explosiveness at the same time, but most importantly, they have to be able to distribute their forces. He has to be able to work with tactics in particular. That’s why I enjoy it the most.
How did you get into swimming?
My father used to swim competitively in his youth and, since he knew the technique, he taught me and my older brother. I’ve always been a water person, I really enjoyed it. When my brother started swimming school, my mom and I would go there to pick him up. The environment and the swimming itself attracted me, I wanted to follow him. I was good at it from the beginning, I had learned good technique from my dad. I didn’t find it difficult, so I stuck with it. Apart from swimming, I was into dancing and athletics. Then I left those.
What was your swimming youth like?
In high school, I didn’t have an individual study schedule, so I would wake up early in the morning to make it to practice at six. I could only swim until 7.20am and then I would run to the bus to school with wet hair. After school, practice again and in the evening there was still studying to do. I was practically always in a hurry, plus in winter one gets cold… It was because of such moments that many of my fellow swimmers quit swimming. They realized that they didn’t want to sacrifice so much for it.
And you didn’t fight the urge to quit it too?
It was challenging for me too, but I still had a vision in front of me that I wanted to improve and that I was capable of more. I never wanted to quit, but of course, there were times when I felt bad that I couldn’t go to outdoor school with my classmates because I had a swimming camp at the time. Or that I can’t go to the café with my friends because I can’t miss my training… It takes perseverance and motivation to keep going.
And what was your motivation? It must have been strong, because high school is all about friends, first loves, parties being more important than other things…
I had a dream to get into international competitions, to go abroad thanks to swimming and without my parents. And suddenly, at fifteen, I found myself at a race in Singapore. It was wow. I’m the active type and I still needed something to do, I wanted to improve. I’m tired of doing something for a long time and being stagnant. Besides, I felt kind of special doing swimming and traveling the world because of it. I was the only one in my class and at school. I told myself, why throw it away for one afternoon with my friends?
Source: x-bionic® sphere
