Russia Announces 3 Applicants for National Swimming Team Head Coach

3  men have applied to fill the role of head coach of the Russian National Swimming Team – a position that seems to be open on an almost-annual basis.

Sergei Chepik, Alexander Klokov, and Vadim Ahmadiev have each thrown their hats into the pool for the post. Chepik is a senior coach of the Russian swimming team. Klokov, who applied for the same role in 2016 but was beat-out by Sergei Kolmlogorov, has served in 2 terms with the National Team: once as the head coach of Russia, and once as the head coach of the Soviet and CIS teams.

Ahmadiev comes from a different background than the other two. He’s an international-level swimming referee and serves on the judges’ advisory board of the All-Russian Swimming Federation.

Russia finished with 10 medals at the 2017 World Championships, tying China for 3rd on the medals table with 3 gold, 3 silver, and 4 bronze medals. That marks their 2nd-most successful World Championship result since the fall of the soviet union, trailing only their 4g-4s-2b performance in 1994. What’s more, all but one of those medals (Yulia Efimova’s 50 breaststroke silver) came in an Olympic event. That came after lagging performances at the 2015 World Championships and 2016 Olympic Games, where Russia only won 4 medals at each meet.