From champion to mentor: Serhiy Frolov on sport, war and the future of children’s swimming
25 September 2024 16:24
SPECIAL PROJECT
Serhiy Frolov is a name that every swimming fan knows. His career is full of victories on world stages. He reached the final of the 800-metre freestyle at the Tokyo Olympics, where he finished sixth in 7:45.11 on 29 July 2021.
Today, Sergiy passes on his knowledge and experience to the younger generation as a coach at F.lineswimming.club.
As part of "Komersant Ukrainian" special project “Children’s Sports: A Business That Is Not Possible Without…”, we talk to him about his new ambitions, the path from an athlete to the founder of successful sports clubs, and the challenges and prospects for the development of children’s swimming even in such difficult times.
Serhiy, you have an interesting and victorious career as a professional swimmer. You have won world championships and the Olympic Games. So, you have managed to fulfil yourself as an athlete. What ambitions do you have today as a coach of the younger generation?
To make the club bigger, to have more children, so that they can learn from the best experience, correct their shortcomings and achieve more than I did. Because F.line is, in translation, a line, that is, the line of my life. There are situations in life when nothing can stop you on your way. You just go ahead and do it. You ask yourself: if not you, then who? Someone has to do it, so you go ahead and do it.
As far as we know, F.lineswimming.club is not the first club you have worked for as a coach, but this particular project was born during the war. Could you tell us why you and your team were not stopped by the war?
This idea actually arose a long time ago, when I was an athlete. Now it has just come to fruition thanks to our team and the people who support me in my work and help me. I believe that now, on the contrary, we will develop even more and achieve more.
The sports business plays an important role in modern professional sports education for children, but today it is underestimated in terms of attracting investment, international grants and partners. It is much less written about and talked about than banking or food production, for example. In your opinion, what are the ways to popularise this business sector?
I believe that this business becomes popular when a certain result is achieved. I am convinced that our children are the new generations to whom we must pass on the best. Of course, nowadays social media, texting and other available channels help to transmit information. That is, this business needs to be moved, as they say, “promoted” by all possible means.
Can you briefly tell us about your club’s business model? And what ways of further development and expansion do you see for yourself in the next 2-3 years?
We opened our first club a year ago and didn’t say much about it. We just launched it and started working. The second pool was rebuilt, completely reconstructed, including filtration, equipment, lighting, repairs, and a lot of professionals and our own funds were involved. So, basically, we open something every year. We will try to open another school to help promote swimming as a sport. Our plans are quite global. In fact, children and parents often find us on their own.
Our children love our club very much. They are delighted with the specialists who work in our field of activity. I hope that we will develop with great momentum, because our children will definitely achieve the most, and we will help them with this. I think it’s only a matter of time before we make a name for ourselves with our high results. I believe in it and know that everything will be exactly like that, because we are going for it.
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