Former University of Louisville swimmer and 2016 Olympic qualifier for Finland, Tanja Kylliäinen, was a member of her nation’s 7-person training camp who traveled to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil earlier this month. Although the swimmers were busy grinding away in the pool, they had the chance to take in the entire Olympic scene as it stands now less than 200 days away from the 2016 Games Opening Ceremonies.
Kylliäinen spoke with SwimSwam on her Brazilian adventure, how the overall preparations look from an athlete’s perspective, as well as how much the former ACC-Champion loves the Olympic host nation’s culture.
Retta: Tell us about your training camp; who was there and where were you?
Kylliäinen: We had a 7-person team composed of 4 women and 3 men. Besides me, we had Hanna-Maria Seppälä, Jenna Laukkanen, Mimosa Jallow, Matti Mattsson, Leo Lahteenmaki and Ari-Pekka Liukkonen. The camp was for 3 weeks, but I had to leave early to get back to Louisville for classes. We trained about 4km from Copacabana and Ipanema, about an hour north of the Olympic venues.
Retta: What was your overall take on Olympic preparations?
Kylliäinen: Most of the construction doesn’t look completely done. It looked like 3 venues were complete done and have held test events. The Olympic Park was really cool and is all centered around where the 2007 Pan American Games were held. That pool (Maria Lenk) will hold diving, synchronized swimming and preliminary rounds of water polo.
Retta: And what about the Olympic Aquatics Stadium?
Kylliäinen: The stadium is amazing because it has seats all around the pool; I expect that set-up to bring even more energy from the crowd. The stadium has a natural Brazilian feel, with greenery planned outside of the building and the tile artistry being designed by a local Brazilian artist. With the seats being around the pool, I think the venue will have a completely different look TV-wise than other venues. It’s expected to house 18,000 seats.
But, the warm-down pool, the one that will be outside and act as overflow between the OAS and Maria Lenk, is not even started, so it’s hard to envision everything 100%.
Outside View of Olympic Aquatics Stadium, courtesy of Tanja Kylliäinen
Artwork of Olympic Aquatics Stadium, courtesy of Tanja Kylliäinen
Additional Inside View of Olympic Aquatics Stadium, Tanja Kylliäinen
Inside the Olympic Aquatics Stadium, courtesy of Tanja Kylliäinen
Retta: Could you tour the Athletes’ Village?
Kylliäinen: We couldn’t go inside, but the buildings look like nice, high-rise-type condominiums. They are pretty close to the pool, although athletes will be bussed in to the pool. There is a big empty space across the street from the athletes village that is supposedly going to have the food court, but that’s a little far to walk. Having to cross a bridge over at least a 4-lane highway is kind of a big strategic undertaking.
Athletes Village, courtesy of Tanja Kylliäinen
Retta: What was your overall sense of security when out and about in the city?
Kylliäinen: Definitely where the centralized Olympic venues were, I felt very safe and it is very regulated, as you would expect. But, in the more touristy area where we stayed, I didn’t necessarily feel unsafe, but I didn’t feel completely comfortable either. In fact, I actually had my debit card number and PIN stolen when I was there. My physical card wasn’t stolen, but somehow my PIN got captured and someone made additional purchases miles away with my card number and PIN while I was there.
Retta: Talk about the temperature and climate.
Kylliäinen: I actually expected it to be a sauna since it’s summer there now and it was really hot, but not extremely humid. It was really sunny, about 90 degrees, but it was mainly the UV index that was high – it measured 12 one day, which is basically off the charts. I got pretty crispy the first day. The pool temperature was about 84 degrees, but we were swimming outdoors at Fluminense. The Olympic pool is of course covered and the outdoor temperatures should be more in the mid-70s to mid-80s in August, we’re told.
Retta: What are your thoughts on the later start times for prelims (1pm local) and finals (10pm local)?
Kylliäinen: The start times are definitely a big concern. I think it’s absolutely ridiculous that the one meet that’s a culmination of years of training gets rearranged due to a TV corporation. I mean, we’re athletes, we can adjust and adapt, we’ve had to do that before, but we all want to perform our best. I mean, it’s set and we can’t change it, so we’ll adjust. I know some athletes are changing up their pre-Olympic training times, but I’m not going to do anything special prior to arriving in Rio one or two weeks early.
Retta: How does being able step foot in the Olympic venue prior to the actual main event help you in preparation?
Kylliäinen: I haven’t been on a training camp with my team in a long time, so the culmination of being with my teammates and us all having the same goal, it’s kind of comforting. It’s going to help me a lot nerves-wise since I’ll at least have had some experience with the stadium, it will give me a little more confidence. It’s one less thing I’ll have to worry about mentally.
Coach Stephanie Juncker and Tanja Kylliäinen
Tanja inside Olympic Aquatics Stadium, courtesy of Tanja Kylliäinen
Interesting! It’s nice to see the venue from the inside and hear the atheletes’ thoughts.