Diving into success

Poland concluded the World Swimming Championships on a high note with Mateusz Sawrymowicz winning a gold medal in the 1,500 meter-freestyle race. Thanks to this, Poland ended the tournament ranked sixth in the general medal standings. With its one gold, one silver and two bronze medals, it maintained the position it gained during the previous championships in Montreal in 2005, when Polish swimmers won two gold and two bronze medals.

However, not everyone viewed the result as a success. Coach Paweł Słomiński expressed his disappointment with some of his athletes and the effort they put into their practices. "We have lost the bond between coach and athlete," he said. Some of the young swimmers who achieved great results during last year's European Championships (such as Paweł Korzeniowski) failed to achieve success this year. On the other hand, new talents such as Sawrymowicz and Przemysław Stańczyk, who won a silver medal at the 800 meter-freestyle race, made a big splash.

Słomiński also raised questions about the team's training system, under which he now has to deal with a large number of athletes. He previously coached Poland's biggest star, Otylia Jędrzejczak individually, and this led to some misunderstandings on the team.

Multi-medal winner Jędrzejczak failed to win a gold at the event, returning home with a silver and a bronze, and suffering her first defeat since 2002 in the 200 meter-medley race, her favorite. Jędrzejczak took part in the championships just a few days after she was found guilty of causing a car accident in 2005 in which her brother was killed.