by Having captured the desire – but also the concern – of some of the major Portuguese swimming teams after, on January 9, he joined the CAR Jamor team led by national coach Alberto Silva, it was V. Guimarães who assured, as revealed by A BOLA , that Andrii Govorov, world record holder in the 50 butterfly, will represent the northerners.
And, having fulfilled the three mandatory events in Portugal, the 30-year-old Ukrainian can defend the colors of Guimarães in the electrifying National of the clubs which, between April 8 and 9, will be played in Jamor. A promising championship.
“The fact that we have the possibility to have a world record, many medals in Europeans, World Cups and finalists in the Games in one of the most difficult events like the 50 free practice in Portugal is already good. But with this acquisition we wanted to boost the sport and the club. It goes against the ideas we have,” justified B. Guimaraes coach Rui Costa when asked what he wants when he gets someone like Govorov.
“We need to start creating different expectations and reaching new heights for our athletes. We want them to have the perception and understanding of how things are done at a high level in order to change our sports culture,” the coach also points out.
Confirming that, despite going to swim for V. Guimarães – last weekend at the International Meeting of Jamor he still competed for Ukraine – Andrii will continue to train in Lisbon, Rui Costa revealed that he has already spoken to the Olympian , so that, sometimes also training with new teammates. “He was excited about it himself. In fact, the original idea came from him about organizing several things that we wanted. So we will have the opportunity to include him in the group, not only in the matches but also in the training sessions, so that they can see and enjoy the athlete that he is. Everyone was excited about the situation,” he says.
And what does this acquisition allow V. Guimarães to aspire to in the next Nacional de Clubes? “Although we already have swimmers who do well, we can bridge the speed tests for crawl and butterfly. Holding the world record gives the team another weight, especially on a psychological level, and we will try to fight for the places next to the podium. It would be a good goal for someone who is in Division I for the first time,” says the Victorian coach, who sees his brother João, a member of the all-time national team and Portuguese record holder in the 100 backstroke, the key figure in a team that includes a highlight.Tomas Lopes and Alexandre Amorim.
And if this time the ambition is to be closer to the podium in a few minutes, can we expect them to contact the big clubs and even be part of it? “We will take things step by step. Obviously we would like to be in the Nacional de Clubes stand, but if we are not, there is no harm. We will try next season. In fact, at the moment it does not cross our minds to finish on the podium, but to question it. Maybe it steals a lot of points from the bigger teams. With this goal, we will go to Nacional,” he assured.
