Two of the fastest backstroke swimmers the world has ever known enter the arena for the latest in our How Rivals Square Up series:
Gemma Spofforth (GBR), world champion Vs Anastasia Zueva (RUS), European champion.
In the heat of the world championships in Rome last year and amid the controversy over suits, Spofforth told herself over and over that she had put in the work needed to make a breakthrough from fourth place in the 100m backstroke at the Olympic Games in Beijing. She believed that needed no suit to prove it and stuck with the Speedo LZR Racer (50% polyurethane) she wore in 2008. Back in the Beijing final, Spofforth timed in at 59.38, a frustrating 0.04sec away from the bronze medal won by Margaret Hoelzer (USA), while Zueva (RUS), still wearing a textile bodysuit, was just 0.02sec behind the Brit.
In the semi-final in Rome, Zueva, now in the 100% polyurethane arena X-Glide, cracked the world record open with a 58.48sec effort that left the Russian ace beaming from ear to ear. In the final, she turned in 28.13, 0.58sec up on Spofforth but where the Russian cam home in 30.05 to race well within world-record pace once more, the Brit returned in 29.41. game over. The clock screamed 58.12WR for Spofforth, with Zueva just 0.06sec back.
Spofforth became the first of only two swimmers in Rome to win titles in suits that were not 100% non-textile in construction.
Now, on the eve of the return match in Budapest at the European Championships, from August 9, 2010, the backstroke aces, whose respective voyages through sport have been fascinating, swim through the same 20 questions for our In the Arena: How Rivals Square Up series.
Coached by Martyn Wilby, Spofforth says of motivation: "When the going gets really tough, the memory of my mother and all those people in the world who have suffered cancer or another disease, or have sunk to the bottom of the pits with depression and are starting to slowly crawl up the side of the steepest cliff back to normality: it is those memories and inspirations that keep me going in the toughest sets."
Coached by Natalya Kozlova, Zueva recalls thus the moment she had to leave home at a young age to pursue her dreams: "My mother let me go there. It was not easy for me and her. But mum finally said 'It would be better to be sorry about things you did than things you could have done but didn't do'. I am very grateful to my mother for giving me such a chance."
Sincere thanks go to head Russia coach Dr Andrei Vorontsov for translating Anastasia's answers.
