Swimming | 14-year-old 203-centimeter swimmer Mikko Kuittinen trains in the merciless system of an American school – in Finland he is superior

“It has a very hard surface, which means that children will not be hit there. If someone doesn’t keep up, the coaches stop talking and people turn their backs,” he says Tero Kuittinen about their children’s swimming hobby in the USA.

This is what happened to a 12-year-old Katja Kuittinen. The development was not fast enough, so the coaches and friends stopped talking to the young swimmer. Katja stopped swimming.

“It is intended only for those who can reach the top,” says father Tero.

One of these young people suitable for a tough system is Mikko Kuittinen. The 203-centimeter-tall 14-year-old broke into the top 20 of his age group in America this past winter.

Stateside swimming age groups are determined by birthday, not calendar year. Mikko, who celebrates his birthday in July, achieved his best ranking so far in the 100-meter backstroke in May, being the 14th best 14-year-old backstroker in the United States.

“If you like pressure and the results improve like Mikko’s, and you don’t mind if someone curses or shouts, then the system suits them,” says Tero Kuittinen.

The father describes his son as a Karelian by nature. If there are setbacks, Mikko won’t be left to worry about them.

“It’s incredibly ambitious, but then if it comes to a jacket, it won’t stop crying,” says the father.

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“Professional behavior is expected from even a 7-year-old. Children have been the doers in America from the beginning.”

Receipts the family lives a mile from the New York border, in the town of Ridgefield, Connecticut. Despite its small size, Ridgefield has a successful swimming tradition under Miko’s coach Emmanuel Lanzon under.

For example, the bronze medalist in the 400-meter freestyle at the Tokyo Olympics has made efforts from Lanzo’s coaching to success Kieran Smith.

According to Father Tero, coaches in the United States say they say it without embellishing it. If you don’t keep up or behave according to expectations, you will receive strict feedback.

After starting swimming at the age of 7, Miko used to joke with his friends during training. As a result of the joke, the coaches did not agree to transfer Mikko to tougher coaching teams.

“He’s a complete clown, he’s no swimmer,” was the feedback from the coaches, according to Tero Kuittinen.

“Then I had to beg to be able to lift it, because it can swim now.”

The father instructed his son to curb his behavior, and eventually Mikko was transferred to a tougher group. When the pace picked up, things got serious.

“Professional behavior is expected from even a 7-year-old. Children have been performers in America since the beginning,” says Tero Kuittinen.

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“He’s a very competitive guy.”

in Finland before the age championship swims, Miko’s 100-meter backstroke record of 1.01.76 has its own number of seconds in the annual statistics for 15-year-old boys. As a dual citizen of Finland and the United States, Miko has the right to participate in junior WC swimming.

Mikko Kuittinen spends the summer in Finland with his family every year. We visit our grandparents in Jyväskylä and otherwise spend time in Helsinki. Now Tampere Miko will also be included in the patterns after joining the local swimming club.

Uinti Tampere has welcomed Miko with open arms. After Midsummer, father and son drove to Tampere for the club’s relay swimming practice. Mikko travels to the Vaasa Games with his new teammates on the team bus.

“He’s a very competitive type”, describes Tero Kuittinen of his son.

“Mikko wants to win the junior championship gold in both the 100m and 200m backstroke, and also in the medley relay. Mikko himself strongly believes in it, he is an optimist.”

Father Tero, however, describes the upcoming WC as an adventure from which anything can be expected. It is still a mystery how the time difference, new daily rhythm, new coaches and, for example, a different diet affect the boy’s performance.

The WC swimming is Miko’s last chance to improve her 14-year-old ranking in the USA before her 15th birthday in July.

“We’re excited to see if it makes it into the top 20. In order to achieve that, the time should be close to a minute,” says Tero Kuittinen.

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“I don’t really focus on sports other than backstroke, so that I can become as good as possible.”

Longer Miko has clear goals for the term in the field of swimming.

“I want to hopefully become the best in my sport. I don’t really focus on sports other than backstroke, so that I can become as good as possible at it,” says Mikko Kuittinen.

The next big goal in the swimming career is to join the swimming team of a top US university, along with studying. Mikko lists Yale, Columbia, Stanford and North Carolina universities as his dream schools.

Yale and Columbia are, according to Ova Miko, “a Legacy thing” because his mother attended these schools.

When Mikolta is asked if she dreams of a career as a professional swimmer after university, she laughs and answers: “Maybe big.”

“It’s an opportunity. If I were to become a professional, I would probably do it in Finland because I would like to compete worldwide. I would represent the Finnish national team,” he says.

The best According to Miko, swimming is having teammates. In the United States, swimming is team-oriented, so club swimmers spend a lot of time with each other. Mikko’s coaching group trains every morning and in addition three times a week there are two training days.

“Hanging out with my teammates is very important to me. We have fun together.” .

Due to dedication to swimming, there is not always time to see other loved ones.

Mikko Kuittinen lives in the dormitory of his high school, George School, where he wakes up every morning at five for practice. The facilities of the swimming club George School Aquatics are right next to the school. According to Miko, the amount of training will increase in the future and will soon reach the limit of 17 hours per week.

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“I felt so lost without swimming.”

To promise during his swimming career, Mikko has also experienced setbacks. In addition to the broken arm, he talks about a big mental “block” a few years ago, which led to a year-long break from swimming.

“Mikko didn’t swim at all for a year. He didn’t swim a meter. Didn’t go into the sea, lake or pool”, says Tero Kuittinen.

When the coronavirus pandemic was at its worst, the passion for swimming was found again. However, the return did not go smoothly, as the pandemic shook the small town of Ridgefield right by the shoulders.

“When Mikko wanted back, it was a pretty tough phase. It was only possible to train for 15 minutes at a time, because only two children were allowed in the pool at the same time,” says Tero Kuittinen.

The doors of the swimming hall were kept open in the middle of winter so that the air could change more efficiently. Tero said that in the end it was a good thing that the boy stopped swimming for a year. This is how Mikko saw what life would be like without swimming.

“I felt so lost without swimming. I tried a few other sports, but none of them were like swimming,” says Mikko Kuittinen.

On the weekend From the Finnish age swimming championships held in Vaasa, Mikko Kuittinen will travel to Ridgefield with three gold medals from the 15-year-old boys’ series.

He won the 200-meter backstroke with a race record of 2:10.30, which also took him to sixth place in the 14-year-old ranking in the United States. My record was improved by six seconds with a single throw.

In the 100-meter backstroke, Kuittinen’s winning time was 1:00.38, which also places him in the top 10 of his age group in the United States.

As the icing on the cake, Uinti Tampere took the relay gold, which ensured Miko a hat trick from the trip to Finland.