Locked in a high-altitude house for a month, 60 miles of travel for a double victory on the same day.
So has swimmer Victor Johansson loaded up for the OS, where he is chasing medals in the pool and in the open water in the Seine.
It's obviously a bit sadistic, he says about his approach.
Jönköping swimmer Victor Johansson, 25, has been called Sweden's most accident-prone athlete.
He was really out of luck after a severe infection where he lay in a respirator at the hospital, he has trained his body to pieces, he has had a couple of rounds of covid-19 and he has suffered from strange injuries, for over a year ago after flipping over with a golf cart.
Since last autumn, when he left college life in the USA and moved back to Nässjö, he has focused on extremely hard training.
It gave him two sixth places at the World Championship in Qatar in February.
Unique double
The OS buildup has been odd. Before Saturday's OS start on 400 meters freestyle – he also swims 800 and 1,500 meters freestyle in pool swimming – he has, among other things, been two months at high altitude (Finland and Andorra) and swum home a spectacular double with a win in Vansbrosimningen (3,000 meters) and SM gold on 1,500 meters freestyle in Linköping on the same day.
He drove himself back and forth between Linköping and Vansbro, almost 60 miles in total.
I'm the first to take that double victory. I got asked and have a very hard time saying no to things. It was mostly a question of whether the logistics worked. Then maybe I shouldn't have driven myself, he says and laughs.
"A bit crazy"
Locking himself in a high-altitude house for a month, combined with hard training, he sees as a pleasure.
You must be a bit crazy. But I like it, I think it's charming to lock yourself in and train as hard as you can, he says.
He understands if outsiders think what he does is a bit weird.
It's a bit like when you read Nils van der Poel's training diary. It's a crazy amount of training and for him, it was natural. For me, it also feels natural, but looking at it from the outside, it's obviously a bit sadistic.
After all the illnesses and injuries that have ruined several years – the World Championship start in the winter was his first in seven years – he realizes he is coming from behind in the OS.
But he is fully convinced that he can fight for medals.
I swam two finals in the World Championship and in principle, all those who are here were there then. On paper, I should be able to be in the finals and then you can definitely fight for medals, says Johansson, who set a Swedish record in both 400 and 800 meters freestyle in the World Championship.
After pool swimming, it's time for 10 kilometers of open water swimming in the Seine, where the water quality can vary greatly.
Everyone is so focused on the thing with the particles... I think it's going to be really fun, the talk has been built up to a big thing. Who could believe that open water would become so big, he says.
July 27: 400 meters freestyle, heats and possible final.
July 29: 800 meters freestyle, heats.
July 30: 800 meters freestyle, possible final.
August 3: 1,500 meters freestyle, heats.
August 4: 1,500 meters freestyle, possible final.
August 9: Open water swimming, 10 kilometers.
