MOSCOW, June 26 (RIA Novosti) - A great Russian swimmer, four-times Olympic champion Alexander Popov said goodbye to professional sport yesterday. The ceremony to say farewell to the swimmer took place in Moscow's Olimpiisky swimming pool on June 25.
Two other prominent swimmers, Oksana Veryovka and Vladimir Kulikov, left sport as well. The event took place on the second day of Russia's swimming championship. Popov said Russia's best sportsmen had gathered at the championship.
The champion is optimistic about the future of swimming in Russia. "A worthy replacement can be trained fast enough. It took my coach six years to put me to an appropriate level. You just have to create a motivation, explain to the sportsmen how to win medals," Popov said.
Vyacheslav Fetisov, the head of the Federal Agency for Physical Culture and Sport, and first Vice President of the Russian Olympic Committee, president of the Russian National Swimming Federation Gennady Alyoshin attended the event.
