Swimming

Fink: “The 100 Was One Of My Goals Coming Here, Nice To See Adam” Day 2 Quotes

February 13, 2024

2024 WORLD AQUATIC CHAMPIONSHIPS

Day 2 in Doha for the 2024 World Championships. No WR, it’s been broken tonight, but still, some good performances and engaging races showed up. 4 medals for Team USA, one for each podium, two golds, and two silvers. Nic Fink listened from the top of the podium to the first USA anthem after beating Nicolò Martinenghi and Adam Peaty in the most interesting event of the night. Surprisingly Diogo Ribeiro from Portugal won the 50 fly while the 100 fly women crowned the best athlete on the field at the moment, Angelina Kholer. Back to back for Kate Douglass in the 200 IM in a personal best time.

Here are the quotes from the World Champions of Day 2 in Doha

NIC FINK (USA)

Gold medallist in the 100 breaststroke in a time of 58.57

“This win means a lot to me. I’m really happy with the time. Really happy, and Obviously happy with the place. There’s a bunch of great workers here, and I think that just getting a chance to race them at this point in the Olympic year was great. I had certain goals coming into this meet and trying to win the 100 breast was one of them.

It’s great to see Adam back in the water, he’s just great for the sport and the stroke, especially. I think this is his first world since 2019, so it’s happy to see his face around all the usual suspects.”

About the decision of Qin of not being in Doha:

“I raced him a lot this last year. I don’t blame him for not coming. Everyone’s kind of choosing their own path to get to to Paris. I’m sure he’s, hard where he is.”

ADAM PEATY (GBR)

Bronze medallist in the 100 breaststroke in a time of 59.10

“It’s a bittersweet feeling because we didn’t come here for medals. I wasn’t really too fussy about aiming for those medals here, because that’s just not the target. We’ve come off a hard bank of work, and last night gave me a little glimmer of hope, thinking I could get faster even today. And maybe I would have if I had executed everything better. But I expose myself here to an arena I haven’t been in a while for a final world championship, so I’m disappointed in that way. The next five months are going to really define who I am as an athlete.

My kind of happiness now in the sport comes from knowing that I couldn’t have done anything more. And tonight I knew I could have done something more, which has left me quite annoyed. But, if I got what I wanted tonight, and maybe it would have equaled the best possible performance I could have done here, maybe that was just as dangerous as not getting what I wanted. Because this is going to push me.”

ANGELINA KHOLER (GER)

Gold medallist in the 100 fly in a time of 56.28

“It’s just so much, and I can’t explain what’s going on in my head; it’s crazy. I can’t really believe it. It’s like -you’re swimming and you’re a world champion – Oh, my God! I always felt pressure before the race, but it meant so much that I could do it with the pressure. I think it’s my talent to swim under pressure. Yesterday I swam faster but today was just about touching the wall first and becoming the world champion”

DIOGO MATOS RIBEIRO (POR)

Gold medallist in the 50 fly in a time of 22.97

“I have no words at this moment. I’m feeling great; this is for my country, my family, my girlfriend, all the staff that supports me, my teammates, and my sponsors.

It’s not about doing the time in the prelims or in the semifinals. It’s about being on the final and doing it all where the pressure is not the same.

Three years ago, I had a very dramatic motorcycle accident, and the first year was like an adapting year, it was tough, but I had already broken the world junior record that year. So it was about having confidence in myself and trusting the physio and my team to do the sessions the best I can. And now I just want to do the sessions more and more and improve my times. Before the crash, I was a different person, a bit crazy, and after that, I changed a lot; it was like a second chance for me.”

KATE DOUGLASS (USA)

Best time and gold medal in the 200 IM in 2:07.05.

“I was hoping for a best time in this race, and I just got under my best time, so I’m really happy with the time. It was definitely a really painful race. So to see a 2.07 low at the end was pretty awesome. This was a great start to this me it’s just going to give me a lot of confidence going into the summer to be able to go a best time right now in the season it gets me excited to see what I can do in a few months. I’ve got a few more races left after this. I’m just kind of excited to see what those have in store. ”

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