"In better shape, I could have fought for first or second place in the 200 meters"

Last week, Samara hosted the Russia — Sports Power Forum, which was attended by several dozen top Russian athletes. Among them is two—time Olympic swimming champion Evgeny Rylov. In an interview with Izvestia, he commented on the decision of the International Swimming Federation (World Aquatics) to allow our water polo teams to compete (the first admission of representatives of game sports after 2022), told about plans for the next 2026 and explained the reasons for his illnesses, which caused him to miss part of this and previous years.

— How did you react to the recent disbandment of water polo players?

— This is a wonderful event. I am glad to see that progress is underway in the admission of our athletes and that now we have started admitting representatives of gaming sports. Yes, so far this is only one case, and it concerns one of the water sports where athletes have been allowed for a year — swimmers, synchronized swimmers and divers began participating in international competitions again at the end of last year. Since water polo players are members of the international and Russian water sports federations, it is not surprising that their turn has come. I hope this will become an example for other game sports, which will also slowly begin to be allowed to participate in international tournaments.

— After the disbandment of our swimmers, you did not get to the World Championships in Singapore, but in your opinion, athletes and fans from other countries reacted adequately to the return of the Russians?

— The guys didn't complain — everything was fine with them. There was no discomfort or negativity. The competitions were held in a standard manner, at least for those of our swimmers who had already participated in such competitions before 2022. It was something new for the young people who participated for the first time. They still didn't know what it was like to perform under such hype, under such pressure. But in general, everyone who participated from us said that everything was fine.

— Do you believe that the wave of admissions to competitions in other sports will be even more active?

— It's hard to say. All international sports federations have different policies and different relationships with Russian sports federations. So the question here is not an easy one. I can't answer it objectively, because people's relationships at this level always develop differently in different situations.

Advice and sport: what issues were discussed at the forum in Samara

Vladimir Putin outlined ways to develop physical education for children and youth, the RPL reported on the increase in attendance, and ministers from several countries discussed international cooperation.

— When the total suspension of Russian athletes from international competitions began in 2022, did you expect that our athletes would be the first to actively participate in water sports?

— This is probably a great merit of the President of the Russian Aquatics Federation Dmitry Arkadyevich Mazepin, who organized and did all this. He was able to resolve these issues and reach an agreement with World Aquatics.

— You are missing the Russian Short Course Championships, which are taking place in Kazan. Do you expect to perform fully next year?

— Yes, I will try. I want to participate fully in competitions. I'm currently recovering from an illness and I'm already swimming, but these are just general activities. I will stay in this mode until the end of the year, and then I expect to prepare for the launches.

— Is it related to your illnesses that you did not qualify for the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore in the spring?

— Yes, that's right. I was getting in great shape then. Everything was fine. But he got sick four weeks before the selection. And this, of course, disrupted the preparation. It really affects us in swimming. Especially, the older you get, the less you have the right to make mistakes. Moreover, I also had such treatment in 2024. And I started that year later than everyone else, too. I missed six months of antibiotic treatment, and it took its toll. I start training and after two or three weeks I get sick, and that's how it was for me in a circle until the end of the year. At the beginning of 2025, it seemed to let me go — I started training, did everything necessary, kept the level and then gained, gained, gained. And I still lost it. After April, I rested for about a week, started taking tests again - relapse — and again I have to start a repeat cycle. And this is on the eve of the selection for the World Cup! Naturally, then we stretched this one a bit to finish it off. I hope that now I will be able to perform normally.

— Why have these problems been occurring for the second year in a row? Some kind of chronic illness?

— In general, this disease itself is found in every person. She may just be in sleep mode. It's a bacterium— almost everyone has it. The problem is when it's active. There is an acute phase, there is a dormant phase, there is a passive phase. I had a passive one. It doesn't affect the average athlete. And it does not affect the athlete in the usual mode. But when there is training work, especially the load on aerobic performance, where everything adapts through oxygen absorption, then this problem just did not allow to assimilate to the required extent — oxygen absorption dropped.

— Can this be prevented in the future?

— Now I'm completely cured, but we need to see what happens next. This can happen again, because it doesn't come out of the body completely anyway. And I started having similar problems, most likely due to the corona, which I had in 2021. I won't give you all the scientific terminology, but the general sequence is as follows: I got corona, I got streptococcus (a bacterium found in the respiratory and digestive tracts. — Izvestia), who stayed on. It didn't affect my health in any way, but it did have a big impact on my workouts.

And for a very long time I did not understand this connection. Therefore, I spent a lot of time and effort for a long time, but it did not give the huge result that I had before with similar amounts of training. When I found out about the reasons, I managed to prepare for the 2024 Russian Cup final, which was held in Yekaterinburg in July. But at that moment I was on a bacteriophage, a drug that simply suppresses the disease. And then I took a course of antibiotics. After that, he retired, but in 2025 he began to gain shape. As a result, under maximum peak load, maximum peak adaptation and maximum possible realization, the immune system drops — I got sick again, and this caused a relapse. Because of this, I did not have time to prepare for the Russian Championship in Kazan, which was a qualifier for the World Cup.

— When you return to major international competitions, will the four-year absence of such competitions affect you?

— It won't affect you in any way. Because we have an individual sport — one track and swims. But there are psychological factors that apply to other guys as well. They are not so critical to me, because I have the experience and knowledge of how to work in such an environment. Here, another factor in the form of health and illness played against me.

— How much has the level of swimming in your discipline changed in four years? Would it be difficult for you to compete for World Championship medals this year if you got there in your best form?

— The results have shifted on the back on the hundred — it will be more difficult to compete. Everything has shifted a little bit at the 200th, but if you take my best results, then I would be able to fight for first or second place at the World Championships. If you approach the launches in your best condition.

— Are you making plans for yourself for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles?

— I'm not going to talk about the Olympic cycle now. I have a question of rehabilitation. Rehabilitation in terms of sports activities, full recovery of oneself as an athlete and one's results. That's the goal for next year. There's no point in thinking further until I can just get back into my normal shape. I'm not talking about improving the results yet.