Gold and Black is a multi-platform media company that covers Purdue athletics like no one else.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/744300
108 GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED BY STACY CLARDIE SClardie@GoldandBlack.com M arat Amaltdinov doesn't remember too much about the race. He was 14 when he swam in the 100-me- ter breaststroke final at the Russian Junior Swimming Festival, a junior national event, in St. Petersburg, and by the time he touched the wall and looked up, he was staring at an impressive finish. "I saw I got second and, of course, I wanted to get to first," he said, laughing, "but it was, 'Oh, I'm second at national level. It's kind of cool.' " And turned out to be kind of important. Amaltdinov called it his first big achievement on a national level, and that one race may have changed the trajectory of not only his swimming career but his life. That finish spurred a flurry of change: His admit- tance to the Moscow School of Olympic Reserve N3 only four months later, his inclusion on the Russian Junior National team, a trip to the United States with that team as a 16-year-old, a desire to find a healthy environment to train and improve and, eventually, a commitment to attend Purdue. The latter was a significant choice, for Amaltdinov and the Boilermakers. In only two seasons at Purdue, Amaltdinov has be- come a record-breaking breaststroker, a Big Ten cham- pion and an NCAA participant. The goals are even high- er this season with Purdue having a real chance to be a top-15 team at this year's NCAA meet, Coach Dan Ross said, thanks to Amaltdinov and a core of talented div- ers. Amaltdinov has also been a superstar student with a 3.94 GPA and plans to get a Bachelor's in three years and a Master's in his fourth. And all of it, the success in the pool, the incredible dedication to academics with an eye on staying in the States to use his degree, just may have come from that single race in 2008. One race changed quite a bit. "Yeah, I would say so," Amaltdinov said, laughing. But the results of that one race also prompted many important and difficult decisions, and the journey to Purdue has not been easy. EARLY From an early age, it appeared Amaltdinov was des- tined to be a chess player — he was "identified" as such. But then his parents decided they wanted him to be more physically active — his mom and dad were both athletes, having played volleyball and hockey, respec- tively. So when Marat was 7, he started to swim. By the time he was 13, breaststroke clearly was his best stroke. So he strictly focused on it. A year later, he was clocking times that ranked him among the top in his age group, including at that national meet that changed everything. "I worked hard to get there but, of course, when you get first, second, third place, it just gives you addition- al confidence to keep working toward the next goals," Amaltdinov said. That race was in April 2008 and meant a significant life decision needed to be made. The best choice for his swimming future was to move to Moscow to attend that specific high school, a specialized boarding school with a rigorous swimming program, one in which he'd ultimately also be awarded a medal for his study habits. But Moscow is about 900 miles from his hometown in Orenburg, where his par- ents are, and about a two-hour flight. "It wasn't an easy decision," Amaltdinov said. "But when I moved, it took me maybe four or five months to get used to it." What he had to "get used to" was intense training, la- borious workouts and incredibly high expectations. But Amaltdinov excelled in the environment. The program also allowed him to compete for the Russian Junior National Team and produced his first trip to the United States when that team visited Fort Lauderdale for two weeks for a "training camp" when he was 16. Years later, he narrowly missed a spot on Russia's Olympic Team in 2012 — just seven-tenths of a second off qualifying in the 200-meter breaststroke. In the 2013 World University Games, he finished fifth in 2:11.74. That same year, he clocked 2:11.41 in a heat for the World Aquatics Championships. When Amaltdinov was done with high school, he opt- ed to attend Moscow University of Finance and Law for a year. But he quickly realized that wasn't going to work: There is no college athletic system in Russia and it was