Lana Pudar (18), the champion of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and one of the best young swimmers in Europe, is preparing for the World Swimming Championships in Erzurum, in the east of Turkey, which will be held in Doha, the capital of Qatar, in February.
Pudar trains in the Olympic swimming pool “Palandoken”, the only high-altitude Olympic swimming facility in Turkey and in the surrounding countries. The BiH swimmer “hones her form” at an altitude of 2.000 meters.
“I participated in the Olympic Games in Tokyo. I have important achievements in my youth. I like to train here in Erzurum. I like the Turkish people very much. It’s a bit difficult to train at high altitude, but I’ll go to Doha to get a medal and I’ll do my best there,” said Pudar, adding:
“I started playing sports with coach Damir Djedovic. I was afraid to enter the pool. The coach told me: ‘Go to the pool, you can do it’. That’s how I started and later fell in love with swimming. I improved myself by training every day.”
Pudar is the European champion in the 200-meter butterfly race and bronze medalist in the 100-meter butterfly race and a two-time champion of the Mediterranean. She also won third place at the World and European Short Course Swimming Championships. Two-time champion and once silver medalist at the world championships, and six-time gold and three-time vice-champion of the Old Continent in the junior competition, is preparing for the second time in Erzurum.
“Everything that swimmers need is here in Erzurum,” coach Djedovic pointed out, stating:
“Lana Pudar is one of the best in BiH and Europe. She has significant international successes. When Lana came to the pool at the age of five, she was very afraid. She used to be scared to go near the water, she was afraid of everything in the pool. “Then she improved with two training sessions every day. When other coaches saw that she had talent, they helped her. She wins medals by working diligently with her own skills and talent.”
The World Senior Swimming Championship will be held in Doha from February 11th to 18th this year, AA writes.
E.Dz.
