The day before the opening ceremony, I felt it was necessary to swim in the pool at exactly the time of the finals. I wanted to see the ambient light at that time. I went over to the pool planning to ask whoever was training for just 15 minutes. The Russians were there. They knew who I was, and I knew one coach who spoke perfect English. He said that it would be perfectly fine. He gave me an outside lane to myself.
There were these big windows on the side of the pool, and I noticed some flashing. The Russians were taking pictures of my stroke. So I started swimming absolutely terribly–the weirdest stroke you can imagine. When I got out, the Russian coach came up to me and said, “I couldn’t help but notice your stroke is kind of unconventional. You don’t swim like that when you actually compete.” So I started telling him it was a new technique to gain muscle by swimming inefficiently. I was just making this up. Then he said, “And doesn’t your mustache drag water?” I said, “No, it actually deflects water from my mouth and allows me to keep my head in a lower position that helps my speed.” He repeats everything in Russian to some guy taking notes. The next year, Vladimir Bure, a top Russian swimmer, shows up to competition with a mustache.
