Blog guest: Velimir Stjepanovic

Velimir Stjepanovic, two-time European swimming champion in small and big swimming pools, as a Swimming Dad #Blog guest, while preparing for the Olympic Games in Tokyo, is revealing whether he prefers morning to evening trainings, and what he manages to do until 10am.

Are you a morning person? Which one do you prefer, a morning or an evening training? 

I wouldn’t necessarily say that I’m a morning person, but I’ve never had a problem getting up early. If I really need to get up early, I find it much easier to do it if I set a certain goal that I would like to achieve as soon as possible. I definitely prefer the evening training because I somehow feel better then and more ready for it.

What do you manage to do until 10am?

When I used to train in Dubai, I managed to swim for two hours and spent an hour and a half at the gym. Of course, I needed to get up early to arrive at the swimming pool. Since I came back to Serbia, I have found it much easier to organise myself and usually my training lasts from 9am to 11am.

When you don’t have a training, when do you usually get up? How long have you ever managed to sleep in one go, and what time was the latest you ever got up? 

I am used to getting up at 8 o’clock in the morning, no matter whether I have a training or not. I only don’t have trainings on Sunday morning, and it can happen that I get up at 9am at latest. It happened to me only once that I slept for really long. More exactly, eight years ago I slept for fourteen hours in one go. However, I can’t remember why I did that, and how I managed to do it.

Do you take an afternoon nap before the big competitions? 

I try to take an afternoon nap, but sometimes I feel very excited that I find it hard to fall asleep. That’s why I like to relax by watching a funny sitcom, or by visualising and deep breathing. It is very important that I manage to physically and mentally reset, in order to prepare myself for an afternoon race.