Russian swimmer Andrei Minakov will not travel to the United States this fall, and will instead remain in Russia to train amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
“I have decided to stay for a year due to the unfavorable situation (in the USA),” Minakov said. “This year I will participate in distance learning.”
Stanford head men’s coach confirmed that Minakov will sit out the entire 2020-2021 season and plans to join the team in the fall of 2021, after the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Minakov was the crowned-jewel of the Stanford men’s recruiting class that SwimSwam ranked #2 in the nation. He is the 2019 World Championships silver medalist in the 100 fly and would have immediately been an NCAA Championship contender in college.
Minakov is currently training as part of the ongoing Russian National Team camps at Lake Krugloye under coach Sergei Chepik.
“Minakov is training at Krugloye, he will not go to the USA now, they gave him the go-ahead for this,” Chepikt told state-controlled RIA News. “In the meantime he will train in Russia. As far as I understand, they have retained his place, he will go there to study, but this is still being postponed.”
Russia began hosting National Team camps at Lake Krugloye in early June, and they’ve continued with rotating casts of participants even as pools around the country have reopened. Krugloye is home to a large sporting facilities, with athletes from several sports utilizing the space to resume their training activities after the coronavirus shutdowns began to ease.
Stanford, like the rest of the Pac-12, will not participate in fall sports until January 1 at the latest, which includes the delay, for now, of winter sports like swimming & diving.
Minakov does plan on beginning his Stanford education remotely while in Russia. The school is offering all instruction remotely through at least the fall semester.
In spite of the campus being mostly closed, for now, intercollegiate athletics teams are being allowed to practice at campus facilities, which women’s team head coach Greg Meehan says he expects to continue to be the case.
The 18-year old Minakov has spent summers training with the Terrapins Swim Team in California for much of his teens.
In addition to his 3 medals (including 2 relays) at the World Championships, he is a World Junior Record holder as a member of Russia’s 400 medley relay team at the 2019 World Junior Championships. He won 7 total medals at those World Junior Championships, including gold in the 100 free and 100 fly.
California has seen more cases of coronavirus, almost 700,000, than any state in the US. Much of that has been in Southern California (Stanford is located in the northern part of the state), and California is doing better than the US average per-capita in terms of both cases and deaths.
Russia, meanwhile, has the 4th-most reported coronavirus cases in the world and are on track to surpass 1 million cases early next week. They have attributed almost 17,000 deaths to COVID-19. Russia has become the first country in the world to approve a coronavirus vaccine, though international experts are wary of the testing protocols that have led to its development.
The Stanford women’s team, which is coached separately, has also had two of its top incoming recruits for this season defer the start of their college careers: World Record holder Regan Smith and US National Teamer Lillie Nordmann are both now planning to arrive at Stanford in fall 2021.
He should do a late enroll in Penn State so his mail in ballot will matter. Entirely wasted in Ca.
Very smart decision – He will also be able to be closer to Babushka for yummy Piroski.
I will just be shocked to see any international Olympic hopeful in the US this year unless you really need to be here for a unique training situation. There will be trials in those countries requiring travel and who knows what water will even be available here. Way too uncertain.
Does he have family in CA? How did he end up in CA training?
His elder sister lives in CA.
Makes sense
This was basically a given.