"I am far from being exhausted yet"
Swimming star Markus Rogan on the mistakes of the world record, on his image and the Olympics
by Martin Sörös
Trieste
Markus Rogan only celebrated in a restrained way in the team hotel Greif Maria Theresia after successfully gaining the world record at the European Championship in Trieste. Anyone who can swim the 200 metres backstroke over the short course in 1:50.43 minutes must think about tomorrow. About the next task, the World Short Course Championship at the beginning of April in Shanghai. About 2008.
KURIER: How does a world record holder sleep?
ROGAN: It's disappointing.
That's to the say, the same as always. I slept through, got up at nine thirty, went for a walk and enjoyed the view. Then I got annoyed that yesterday's heats weren't shown on TV.
How much courage is needed in order to selectively be able to take on a world record?
It was clear to me that I had to announce this prior to the European Short Course Championship. On the one hand, I was only a 15 hundredth away from it and, apart from this, it would otherwise not have been mentally interesting for me and not sufficiently interesting for the media.
And how does such a preparation for day X really work?
To be totally honest, I always have my doubts that it works. But on the respective day, everything has to come together. Your level of fitness, the special competition situation, your opponent's level of fitness, the spurring on from the public.
As far as the personal fitness is concerned, that is a kind of catapult principle.
You pull back, have the optimal tension and you score.
It's as simple as that?
No, no. In training you begin to continually ask questions. I continually ask my trainer,
Robert Michlmayr, whether we're not training too much or too little. At the end it's a kind of mutual trust. Robert always says that my legs need longer to regenerate prior to a competition. And then there is still the interaction between maintaining stamina and building up vitality. It's fascinating and full of risks.
How would you have felt if you had collected gold without swimming the promised world record?
Well it would have been totally stupid to have fallen short of the world record and to have improved my European record again. I would have been more annoyed about the time, than I would have been pleased about the gold. The further I had been away from the world record, the greater my pleasure in the gold would have been.
And how would you have dealt with not reaching the world record and to have been placed second?
Then I would have lost my European record and would have swum the Austrian record. There is the possibility that this can happen at the World Championships in April. If it happens, we'll see how emotionally mature I am.
Was the Trieste final a perfect race?
Certainly not. I started too slowly and spent too much time looking at my neighbouring swimmer, Vyatchanin. I spent too much time swimming his race and not my own. I know that I am far from being exhausted yet. There's a lot more to get out of me yet. Apart from that, I still train much less than would be possible. Robert and I are taking small steps forward. Like all of the steps, this was also coordinated to collect gold at the 2008 Olympics.
From time to time, you received harsh criticism concerning the World Championship in Montreal in the summer. You were reproached for your omnipresence. How hurtful was this?
The events made my skin thicker. I believe that what happened to me in Montreal, spurred me on not to lose in Trieste. I would have had to listen to a lot of things if I had been second here.
As a reaction to the personal criticism, you have almost made a total retreat for a while. How difficult was this for you?
Once it was really painful. I would have loved to have been at Rapid's first champion's league game. I didn't go. Otherwise, I might have got carried away with statements again.
It shouldn't be assumed that your path will just be accompanied by success. On whom or on what would you have doubts about in the event of an interim failure?
If I had performed badly at the games in Athens or at the European Championships in Vienna, I would have probably had doubts about the Austrian system. Perhaps about my trainer as well. Today I would probably view a failure as a slight stumble. I would easily cope with one, Robert and I would take immediate and intense countermeasures if it happened twice or more.
And otherwise? Totally satisfied?
Satisfied, to have received a 2000 Euro premium from my equipment suppliers, Speedo, in addition to my performance-related contract. Happy to have won a bet with my friend, Maxim Podoprigora. I get a case of wine from him because we made a bet about which of us would manage to be the first to win a world record. And amid all of the satisfaction there is caution that we and I must not take the constant drawing upon best performances for granted.
ON THE PULSE
Joy and . . .
by Steffi Graf
Prior to the start he seemed pale and nervous. "I was primarily driven to not be second." Markus Rogan had doubts and fears. Doubts about whether he can really manage it. Doubts about whether it is even the right time for the world record. There are only a few weeks in a sportsman's career, if at all, in which one may ogle the world record. The fitness level is right. It is a gift from heaven, but the fear of not being able to use the opportunity of a lifetime is great. Markus Rogan was also afraid of coming second. Afraid that someone else could swim his world record.
I know this feeling only too well. I remember the 800 metre race at the 2002 European Championships in Vienna, before which I sensed that I was capable of the world record, of becoming European champion, with the world record as a bonus. My big dream seemed feasible. I had two tough years of training behind me and this dream had been my only motivation.
In the last minutes before the start, you feel miserable, your knees are weak. The anxiety flees with the starting signal. Everything runs like clockwork. The body is guided by instinct. You are driven by the desire to find redemption in the goal, to be rewarded for the agony.
Markus Rogan has managed it. His shining eyes as he saw the results lit up on the score board, said it all. The world record belongs to him. Nobody can take it away from him. Even when somebody inevitably beats him one day. What would have gone through his mind if he hadn't managed it?
I know what something like this feels like. In the race of my life, I became second behind Jolanda Ceplak. We were both below the old world record. She was three hundredths of a second ahead of me at the target. Not even the fluttering of an eyelash, so close and yet so fare. The opportunity never returns. Even today it is still like a stab in the heart sometimes. I am happy for Markus. Endlessly! And yet it's painful. Very painful.
