Govranko Says College Swimming Rekindled Her Drive for Paris, Los Angeles and Beyond

Anastasia Gorbenko, who turns 23 in August and will mark eight years since her first senior competition, says her move to the University of Louisville in Kentucky restored her motivation for swimming. She is now in a training camp in Spain, preparing for the European Championships in Paris in about two months, and says college life helped her rediscover the love of being in the pool after a very demanding early career.

Gorbenko said she asked to train in Spain alone with a coach she likes, Tom Rushton, before later joining the national team at altitude. She described the block as a deliberate sacrifice of time with family and friends, saying it was not easy but necessary for the Europeans. Her target is a fourth European title in the 200-meter individual medley, and she said she will need to break or nearly match her own record to win again.

The swimmer said her first full year at Louisville was a major change, both because of the distance from home and the academic workload. She studies and trains alongside fellow Israelis Denis Loktev and Daria Golovaty, starts at 5:15 a.m., and has two water sessions, gym work and classes every day. She said the schedule is intense, with eight of nine weekly sessions being demanding, but the university offers excellent facilities and support.

Gorbenko said college brought back her enthusiasm after years of elite competition, including two Olympic Games, world championships and European medals. She has already won two medals this year in the Mare Nostrum series and said she is aiming for gold in several events, including 50 and 100 breaststroke, 200 and 400 individual medley, and possibly relays. Looking ahead, she wants to become the first Israeli swimmer to compete in four Olympics, with Los Angeles 2028 and Brisbane 2032 in view, and said that after Los Angeles she expects to focus more on sprint events.