Ukrainian swimmer Vladyslav Bukhov is aware of higher than anybody simply how effective the margins in his sport might be.
At simply 21 years of age, the dash swimmer claimed gold within the 50m freestyle on the 2024 World Aquatics Championships in Doha by a mere 0.01 seconds – actually lower than the blink of a watch.
That title etched Bukhov into Ukraine’s sporting historical past, making him the nation’s third-ever long-course (competitions held in a 50m pool) world champion.
At the time, Bukhov was a comparatively unknown determine in elite swimming, with only some thousand social media followers.
However, he left Qatar having accomplished one of many world championships’ greatest-ever shocks, edging out the earlier two champions, Cameron McEvoy and Ben Proud, within the remaining.
Ostensibly rising out of the blue, Bukhov’s journey – like most gold medalists – began lengthy earlier than the pageantry of worldwide swim meets and media highlight.
Speaking to CNN Sports forward of the swimming portion of the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, the 22-year-old supplied a frank perception into his ascent to the highest of the game.
“People will look and see that I’m world champion. But what they don’t see is how long the road and the journey is to that medal and podium,” Bukhov stated.
“I’ve been swimming for the reason that age of seven. That means I used to be swimming for 14 years – nicely over half my life – earlier than I received gold in Doha.
“There have been a lot of sacrifices along the way to get me to where I am today.”
Bukhov’s unlikely success turns into extra spectacular as soon as studying that regardless of beginning the game at age seven, he didn’t swim in a aggressive race till he was 15 years previous in 2018.
When requested why it took him so lengthy to transition into aggressive swimming, Bukhov defined that his introduction to the game was by no means primarily based round “dreams of medals or fame.”
“I tried all the sports growing up. Swimming didn’t become my main focus until I was a teenager,” he recalled.
“At first, I obtained into it as a result of I beloved the trendy pentathlon. So, to start with, I noticed it as only a small a part of my sporting life.
“But as I got older, it became clear that I had a talent for swimming. That’s when my parents stepped in and said they would take me to a proper coach.”
Like all Ukrainians, Bukhov’s life has been deeply affected by Russia’s aggression towards his homeland.
Back in 2014, earlier than the present full-scale battle in Ukraine, Russian paramilitaries seized management of Bukhov’s hometown of Donetsk within the nation’s japanese Donbas area.
Only 11 years previous on the time, Bukhov and his household have been compelled to go away their dwelling and journey 10 hours west to the relative security of Kyiv.
“It was a very scary time for us all,” the swimmer stated. “I used to be fairly younger on the time, so I didn’t absolutely perceive what was happening.
“My main memory is just the sadness of needing to leave where I was from and move to somewhere completely new.”
After almost eight years within the nation’s capital, the ache of fleeing Donetsk had began to really feel like a distant reminiscence for Bukhov.
Those reminiscences got here flooding again for him and his household, although, in late February 2022, when Russian forces crossed Ukraine’s japanese border and encircled Kyiv just some days later.
“I thought we had left all the fighting behind us. When I woke up that morning and heard the news that Kyiv had been surrounded, I struggled to believe my family and I had found ourselves in the same situation all over again.”
More than three years later, life for many Ukrainians has but to return to regular.
For elite athletes like Bukhov – who depend on routine and stability – coaching and preparation have needed to be closely tailored.
“It is impossible to train normally. We can’t even do simple everyday things, let alone all the stuff that professional athletes have to do,” Bukhov stated.
“Air raid sirens constantly interrupt our lives – whether we’re in the pool, in the gym, or just trying to sleep at night. We can’t do anything without this constant fear.”
In latest months, Bukhov says the drone and missile assaults on Kyiv appear to be growing in frequency.
“Russia has been bombing us almost each night time. Just the opposite week, a missile struck a close-by space in Kyiv and over 30 folks died.
“It does scare you, of course, because each night when you go to bed, you don’t know if you’ll live or die – if you’ll wake up the next morning. Each day has become a lottery.”
He provides that there have been many events the place he and his teammates have been mid-session within the pool when the screech of air raid sirens compelled them to hurry to shelters nonetheless wrapped in towels.
“You never know how much time you’ll have in the pool before you need to get out, so it’s just a case of doing as much as you can while you can,” Bukhov stated.
There is all the time satisfaction in representing your nation on the worldwide stage, however for Ukrainian athletes like Bukhov, that satisfaction has grown even deeper because the battle rumbles on.
“As an athlete, I feel even prouder now. I am competing for more than just my own glory,” the 22-year-old stated.
Even earlier than the battle, when competing at youth degree, Bukhov says he all the time gave all the things to see the Ukrainian flag hoisted above the rostrum.
Now, although, he feels he has discovered one other degree of ardour and function in competing for his nation.
“When I journey overseas to competitions, I’m one of many fortunate few who will get to quickly depart the battle. … Normal folks don’t get a break from the bombing and the sirens, so I attempt to do my half in my very own means.
“I inform myself that if I swim quick and proceed to interrupt data, folks again dwelling will get a small distraction from actuality and really feel satisfaction that Ukraine continues to be succeeding regardless of all the things.
“During battle, there’s no choice however to maintain going and attempt to dwell as usually as we are able to. For some, meaning going to school or an workplace. For me, that’s swimming sooner.
“If everyone does their job in Ukraine – no matter how small – it can make a big difference collectively. That’s what I keep telling myself.”
Heading into the swimming portion of the World Aquatics Championships, Bukhov is aiming to return to his greatest kind – one thing that eluded him ultimately summer time’s Olympic Games in Paris.
Having been topped world champion just some months earlier than the Games, the Ukrainian struggled to observe up on that breakthrough efficiency, inserting eleventh total within the 50-meter freestyle.
On the unsuitable facet of swimming’s razor-thin margins, Bukhov missed out on the Olympic remaining by simply 0.13 seconds.
It was not a brand new ache for the swimmer both, having positioned in the very same place – one spot exterior the finals – within the 2021 Tokyo Games.
But he has used these disappointments to gas his motivation to defend his world title.
“At the Olympics, I was very disappointed. I was a little bit sick and wasn’t able to perform my best or live up to my own standards,” he informed CNN Sports. “I’m heading to Kallang with one objective: to swim sooner than I ever have earlier than.
“Let’s see where that leaves me on the podium. But in my mind, when I’m up on the starting block, my only thought will be about chasing a new PB and breaking my national record.”
The journey itself to Singapore is one other reminder of the often-overlooked penalties of battle.
With Ukraine’s airspace closed, Bukhov will take a nine-hour prepare west to the Polish border earlier than crossing into the city of Chełm.
From there, he’ll take an extra three-hour prepare experience to Warsaw, the place he and his teammates will lastly board a flight to Singapore.
In whole, they may spend extra time touring to the airport from Kyiv than they may within the air en path to Southeast Asia.
“It’s not ideal, but we’re used to it now,” Bukhov stated. “The journey will be long, so I have to make sure I make it worthwhile.”