On Monday, the Association of Sports Journalists published the best of 2023 for each sport. In Veera Kivirinna's opinion, the choice of swimmer of the year did not go quite right.
Swimmer Veera Kivirinta does not accept the decision of the Finnish Sports Journalists Association to choose Ida Hulkko Swimmer of the year.
“By what sea routes has Ida been put there?” He asks.
According to Kivirinna, either he or Matti Mattsson had earned the Swimmer of the Year title.
“If Mattsson had been chosen as Swimmer of the Year instead of Hulko, no one would have said anything, and I wouldn't have wondered about it either,” he says.
However, there is plenty to wonder about.
Kivirinta was fifth in the 50-meter breaststroke final at the European Short Course Championships in Romania. In the long course World Championships in Japan, Kivirinta reached 13th place in the same distance. Mattsson was tenth in the 200 meter breaststroke at the World Championships.
Hulkko, on the other hand, swam 21st (50-meter breaststroke) and 24th (100-meter breaststroke) at the long course World Championships. He was not seen in the EC pool.
According to Kivirinna, 28, the title of Swimmer of the Year is not “the biggest thing in the world”, but still some kind of appreciation for the work done by the athlete.
He questions the professionalism of the journalists who made the decision.
“If there was a professional team there, they would know how to make the right choice. Apparently there is no watching sports or sports competitions? That's how it looks now”, Kivirinta says.
Hulkko himself also felt that he was not the right choice for Swimmer of the Year. He spoke his mind in X.
To a sports reporter chairman of the association's Sportsman of the Year committee Matti Hannula told Yle that each reporter on the committee has about ten responsibilities, the best of which this person finds out and chooses. If the other members of the committee have comments on the selection, it will be looked at again.
According to Hannula, none of the members had any complaints about the choice of swimmer.
“Of course, I understand that Hulkko has a solid opinion on the matter. Apparently, this traditional difference in emphasis between short track and long track has been involved in this sport as well. He has then ended up with Hulkko,” chairman Hannula commented to Yle.
Kivirinta, representing TaTu in Tampere, laughs after hearing Hannula's explanations. He points out that last year he did better than Hulkko also on the long track.
“Those arguments are absolutely ridiculous. If someone has given a proposal and everyone has been 'ok', then obviously everyone in the committee is in the dark about what is happening here in Finnish sports”, says Kivirinta.
Veera Kivirinta finished fifth in the 50-meter breaststroke at the European Short Course Championships.
Stone chest asked April in an interview with Yle if he should “start making some viral videos and shrug anyway” in order to get more attention.
Hulkko is known as an active social media personality, and he has, for example, more than twice as many followers on Instagram as Kivirinna.
Kivirinta denies that he sneered at Hulko in his comment. He says that instead he wanted to point out that being visible on social media and being successful in sports are not the same thing.
“Social media is an important part of sportsmanship and the acquisition of sponsors, but if it is also a criterion for such choices, then surely I must start doing social media a little more and seriously? If visibility matters, then it doesn't matter what you do at the games, as long as you are visible,” says Kivirinta.
Veera Kivirinta (back) and Ida Hulkko photographed in the long distance WC swimming in Kuopio in June 2021.
Stone chest says that he discussed the choice with Hulko on several occasions. They have updated the matter in one inch.
“She's one of the best in our sport, my dear friend and competition partner. So I'm not taking anything away from Ida.”
This year we will be swimming in the World Championships (in February), the European Championships (in June), the Olympics (July-August) and the short course World Championships (in December).
Kivirinta has already been selected for the Finnish World Cup team for the Doha Games in February. His main event, the 50-meter breaststroke, is not part of the Olympic program.
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