With a medal won at Czech Canoe Sprint National ChampionWith a medal won at Czech Canoe Sprint National Championships Filip Švab decided to call it quits and ended his sporting career at the age of 37. "I was led by age and declining performance. I am losing speed," said Švab.
Canoe Sprinter, born in Olomuc, has great memories from his canoeing times, the nicest ones being those of the 2015 World Championships in Milan, "To win a ticket for Rio Olympic Games, that was the best. I basically didn't even expect that. But there were a lot of moments in those twenty years - the first medal at the European Championships in K4, the final at the World Championships. Singles, K4. I didn't have a season that I was downright disappointed."
He was considering retirement already last year, but decided to prolong it for one year due to family reasons. His daughter was born this winter and he wanted to spend more time at home, which could not be possible with his plans for future career, "I want to give it a try in police or customs, but educating for this means a year from home." And why police? "There is some order and you have to keep fit. I believe that this way it will be easier to jump into work mode when I have been detached from real life for twenty years."
Švab, however, was not the only one waving goodbye after Czech national championships. Ondrej Bišicky, Martin Seidl and Dan Drahokoupil also decided to end their sporting careers.
Source: http://kanoe.cz/rychlostni-kanoistika/zavody/olympionik-svab-ukoncil-karieru
14.10.2020
