Russian Aquatics Welcomes New Leadership, Okay With Neutral Label

The Russian Aquatics Federation enters the new Olympic quad under several new names in leadership. Beyond aquatics, the country’s press secretary urges dialogue with international sports organizations and is okay with the neutral flag.

Olympic bronze medalist Sergey Fesikov was announced as the Federation’s new Sports Director of Swimming. Fesikov retired from professional swimming in 2023 with over two dozen European Championship medals and a 2012 Olympic bronze medal in the men’s 4×100 freestyle. The 36-year-old is responsible for designing and overseeing a “target training program” for the national team.

Last week, the Federation also announced that Radmir Gabdullin will serve as the new Secretary General. Job responsibilities for Gabdullin, who comes from a background in martial arts administration, include anti-doping compliance, communication with government authorities, and commercial partnerships.

Russian diving, meanwhile, enters the new quad with Olga Feoktiskova as the sport’newly-appointed head coach. Feoktistova competed in two Olympics as a diver and went to another two as a coach. She is best known for coaching Alexander Bondar, a 3x European Champion and Olympic bronze medalist in platform events.

The new era of aquatic leadership comes at a turning point for Russian sports. Several of its sports teams, swimming in particular, are making strides towards reintegration into the global sports scene after their 2022 IOC ban. Russia’s Presidential Secretary, Dmitry Peskov, used the swim team as an example of this reintegration.

“If it is possible to conduct a dialogue to ensure that our athletes participate in competitions, I am convinced that this should be done,” Peskov told Russian media in December. “And the example of swimming confirms this.”

Under a neutral flag, the Russian swim team ranked second on the medal table at the 2024 Short Course World Championships, earning six golds and ten medals. Only four months prior, at the Paris Olympics, they only had one individual neutral athlete at the Olympics.

Peskov doubled down on his support of dialogue with international sports organizations in an interview this week.

“Of course, we will continue to work patiently to ensure that our athletes have the opportunity to take part in international competitions,” the state official said. “Even if it’s in neutral status at first, the main thing is to start playing and return to international sports life.”