– I can train but then I have a paddle that makes me have all my fingers together. This way I remove the load from the hand and finger, and it works well.
– But without a paddle I can not max out because it still hurts a lot, and then it is not possible to compete.
Really would Victor Johansson on Tuesday landed in Abu Dhabi, where the short track world championships begin on Thursday, but the injured finger caused the trip to be canceled.
– It is sad of course, but as the situation is, it was best not to go, he states.
It was an early Monday morning just over a week and a half ago that he injured his finger.
– I was so a little tired on Monday that you can be a new week when it is half past six in the morning. During the warm-up in the pool we drove a little fast, but my head was probably somewhere else because all of a sudden the wall came. I got a shitty finish from the side and drove with my hand in the tile in the wrong way, says Victor Johansson.
– Something that resulted in the ring finger, from the knuckle and up, jumping out of joint and it became a fracture.
– The idea was that Victor Johansson would swim the World Short Course Championships in Abu Dhabi starting on Thursday, but an injured finger puts a stop to it.
Photo: Joel Marklund / Bildbyrån
Into the longest the 23-year-old hoped that the pain would go away and that he would be able to compete in the WC where he was registered in the 400 and 1500 meter freestyle, but in the end he had to make the decision not to start.
– After everything that happened last year, I can put up with an injury like this – even if it obviously would have liked to have come at another time. This time it’s just a finger, and it will be good, says Victor Johansson.
Victor Johanssons experience in 2020 – the year of hell as he calls it – has given him perspective that there are worse things than an injured ring finger.
Throughout last year, he struggled with various health problems. His testosterone levels plummeted, something that would turn out to be due to overtraining. He got covid-19 and at the end of the year he suffered from such a serious throat infection that it required surgery. After the operation, Victor ended up in a respirator for 30 hours. A scary experience.
At the beginning of the summer of 2020, he chose to leave Los Angeles and go home to Jönköping. This is where, in early 2021, together with his new coach Niko Martikainen, he slowly began to rebuild his body.
– Victor Johansson’s Olympic debut in Tokyo ended with a Swedish record.
Photo: Joel Marklund / Bildbyrån
In the last second he got a ticket to the Olympics in Tokyo, after missing the A-qualifying limit but getting a reserve place. In his first ever Olympic race, he set a Swedish record in the 800 meter freestyle with a time of 7.49.14.
The 23-year-old finished tenth, one second and 41 hundredths from a final place.
– I had struggled to get to the Olympics, and that I managed to swim fast in Tokyo meant everything. I was back, says Victor Johansson
– Even though it has been a number of months, I can still get strength from that race. It will always mean a lot to me.
– Because it is clear that I have felt a worry if I would ever get back to where I was before all the problems started.
After the Olympics went Victor Johansson to Los Angeles to complete the fourth year of his studies.
In May next year, he will finish his studies, but he has the opportunity to stay in the United States for another year and continue to compete for his school or another school.
Right now it is likely that he will stay in the US for an extra year, but in that case he will continue to have close contact with his coach at home in Sweden, Niko Martikainen.
– It’s a tough decision. I know how good my swimming will be from the training at home in Sweden. At the same time, I will never be able to be in the US in the same way again, says Victor Johansson.
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