Daria Ustinova: swimming as a test for strength

The Olympic Games in Rio are sadly famous for doping scandals and the inadmissibility of many Russian athletes. Russian swimmer Yulia Yefimova was first disqualified, then acquitted, but, going out on the path of the swimming pool, experienced severe psychological pressure from rivals and tribunes. In a similar situation, the young hope of the swimming team Daria Ustinova turned out to be, the Rio for which also became a battlefield for the right to go to the start. However, in her seventeen years she coped well with difficult circumstances and showed a decent result, taking fourth place.

Start

The future sports star was born in a small town of Kamensk-Urals, which is in the Sverdlovsk region. Swimming in the biography of Daria Ustinova appeared largely due to unforeseen circumstances. As a child, she suffered from back pain, and the doctors advised her parents to give her daughter to swim to improve her health. Fortunately, the physical data of Dasha, which was the highest in the class, allowed us to count on good results. The progress of the girl was evident, soon she became the strongest in her age category.

The first serious tournament for her was the European Youth Festival, held in Turkey in 2011. Despite the fact that she competed with rivals for several years older than her, Daria Ustinova, whose voyage became a vocation, left the sunny Turkey with a set of three awards. Even then, her preferred disciplines were formed, especially she floated on her back, where she gave the best results.

Breakthrough in the elite

The idol of the young swimmer was the famous Anastasia Zueva. And at the age of fourteen the member of the team of the Sverdlovsk region on swimming Daria Ustinova got the opportunity to meet with an authoritative athlete on the neighboring paths. The contest of representatives of two generations was held within the framework of the championships of Russia in 2012, where the more experienced Zuyeva won. However, Daria worked like a madman in training, easily beating all the youth records and promised to grow into a serious champion.

In the same year in July the fifth world sports games "Children of Asia" took place. Already serious sportswoman Daria Ustinova, swimming for which became a real profession, with a huge margin ahead of all her rivals. From these competitions, she left with a whole set of gold awards.

Won the victories at the 100 and 200 m distances on the back, as well as in the relay races 4х100 freestyle and 4х100 in the combined relay race.

Adults wins

At the age of fifteen, Daria Ustinova, swimming in Russia without which it was difficult to imagine, began to win in adult tournaments. She became the champion of the country at a distance of 200 m on the back. In the national team of the Sverdlovsk region she also became the vice-champion of the country in the complex relay race.

Having won several important victories in the Cup of Russia, Daria Ustinova won a ticket to the World Championships in Barcelona. Because of the trauma of Anastasia Zueva, who was an example for her to follow, the team's mentors exhibited Dasha to participate in the combined relay race. The debut turned out to be deafening: a fifteen-year-old girl managed to become the vice-champion of the world in the composition of her team.

A year later, she won an individual award, winning at the European Championships in Berlin at her favorite distance - 200 m on the back.

At the same time, the hope of the national sport was faced with a rather indifferent attitude towards itself in its native city. In Kamensk-Uralsky, where she lived, Daria Ustinova did not even have access to the pool and was forced to purchase season tickets on a common basis, practicing along with ordinary amateur swimming. Opportunities for serious training appeared only at training camps in Yekaterinburg, Moscow or abroad.

Difficult swimming of Daria Ustinova at the Olympics

One of the highlights of the Games in Rio was the story of the disqualification of the swimmer Julia Efimova and her subsequent rehabilitation. The same fate befell Darya Ustinova, but she remained in the shadow of a more famous girlfriend in the team. Already at the training camp in Rio, Daria found out that she was not allowed to compete because of suspicion of doping.

Parents of a minor girl filed a lawsuit in an arbitration court and obtained justice.

However, this story was not in vain. Ustinova was morally exhausted by all this hassle, and besides, she practically did not have time for preparation. Nevertheless, she acted with dignity and on her crowned two hundred meters back was the fourth, stopping a step from the medal. And the result of the bronze medalist was a whole second worse than Darya's personal record.

In any case, Ustinova coped well with the circumstances and showed herself well at her first Olympics.