By Michael HayVictor Polyakov. The 24-year-old Russian native is a former member of the Russian Army turned freshman for West Chester University. He’s also broken one NCAA Division II record this season and eyes at least one more at this weekend’s NCAA Division II Championships at the Spire Institute. I had the good fortune to meet Victor while sharing Thanksgiving Dinner with some family and friends. Since then I have had the opportunity to have a few short conversations with him regarding his life in the USA, his family life back home, swimming and even a certain fictional Philadelphia sports hero.
Victor is the youngest of four brothers, all of whom grew up swimmers. Despite shattering an NCAA Division II record in the 500 free this season (4:20.26), Victor is not the most talented swimmer in his family. His second oldest brother, Anatoly Polyakov, takes the crown as the family’s best swimmer. A 200 fly specialist, his resume includes a bronze medal at the 2004 European Aquatics Championships, as well as representing Russia in the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games. In 2000, Anatoly touched out an up-and-coming young swimmer named Michael Phelps in the Olympic final of the 200 fly but finished just outside of the medals.
After graduating from secondary school in 2009, Victor was being recruited for swimming by Universities in the USA, but Victor instead enrolled in the Russian Army, where he worked primarily as a military lifeguard. Not exactly the ideal situation for a young swimmer who still had something to prove in the pool, however Victor was able to stay in touch with his old trainer and maintain a swimming and strength training regimen that improved his sprinting and prepared him for his swimming career after the military.
The transition to a new training program and a new language have been the toughest challenges facing Victor so far as Freshman at West Chester University in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Training for WCU is noticeably different than the training he received in Russia, the intensity is much higher and the intervals much shorter, but Victor favors the shorter pool because of the higher speeds that can be attained. The transition has been made significantly easier thanks to teammate Bogdan “Shark” Grebenyuk, a WCU Junior breaststroke specialist from the Ukraine. Perhaps the most noticeable and appreciated difference is the strong focus on team culture at West Chester. In Russia, swimming is considered to be an individual sport with teammates often taking an every man for himself attitude.
Despite the transition away from his wife and family, Victor does like living in the US where there are so many positive people and everyone is ready to help you. He enjoys the intimate setting that the red brick sidewalks of West Chester provide, and the support of his coaches and teammates. Like all the rest of his brothers, Victor is pursuing a career related to sports by studying Physical Training and Exercise Science. When I asked him if he was thankful that Rocky Balboa was able to essentially end the Cold War in the 15th round of the heavyweight boxing championship by knocking out Ivan Drago, he laughed and said that he believes that sports and politics should not interfere with each other but he is extremely thankful for the positive impact that sports can make in times of strife.
He believes that he has found a team where he can continue to achieve at a high level. He has already set the bar high with a National Record in his first season, and with NCAAs approaching he has another chance to show us just what he and his teammates can accomplish.