November 3, 2019 - By the decision of the Croatian Paralympic Committee, the first Croatian Paralympian to secure a spot in Tokyo next year is Dino Sinovcic, a member of PK Cipal from Split, who won the gold medal at the WPS World Paralympic Championship in the Queen Elizabeth Aquatic Center, discipline S6, on September 12 in London.
“It is an exceptional honor for me to be the first athlete to secure the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo, and secondly, the responsibility to show up in the best light and to be as ready as possible when needed,” Sinovcic said to Dalmacija Danas about the success of securing the Paralympics games.
He added that he is aware of what awaits him in Japan:
“After the games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, I roughly know what awaits me in the ‘land of the rising sun’. I will do my best to prepare myself in every segment of my performance. Until then, I must fully commit to swimming and implement my coach Slobodan Glavcic’s program with the ultimate goal of winning a Paralympic medal,” Sinovcic concluded.
Coach Slobodan Glavcic spoke about his work with Dino Sinovcic:
“I started working with Dino in 2006 when Dino was 14 years old. He was eager to learn then, and I used that to master the swimming technique on his back properly and to perfection. His disability, arthrogryposis, and frequent injuries did not allow him to swim the breaststroke and butterfly. So we didn't force freestyle swimming."
About Dino's approach to Paralympic swimming, Glavcic added:
“Dino is a great professional. Not one contract, not one training, and not one action went badly. Namely, during our trip, we were not focused solely on swimming. On Thursday, he took his final exam at the professional study of the Faculty of Kinesiology in Split, in swimming direction, so that it is a reality and a diploma by the end of the year."
Glavcic also spoke about plans for Tokyo:
“Outside of the World Paralympic Championships in London, which booked him a spot in Tokyo, by the decision of the HPO Executive Board on September 19, he confirmed his spot, thus becoming the first Croatian Paralympian with a visa for Tokyo. We have a short break until the start of the POI preparations, which start on November 4th with a week's departure to Sarajevo and then continue to Dubrovnik. A key part of the preparations is the Body & Mind studio for three weeks and injury prevention training in Zagreb on December 1st so that Dino Sinovcic can complete the training plan and program without fear of injury next year.
Dino opens the next season with a performance at the Cro Open in Split on January 25 and 26. After that, he’ll work to the maximum to hopefully win the gold at the European Championships in Portugal in May.
Until then, we will be competing in world series competitions in Lignan and Berlin. We then turn to the final preparations for the Paralympic Games. I hope that on September 4th, when the 100-meter backstroke race is held at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo, we will look forward to Dino’s medal,” concluded Slobodan Glavcic.
At the moment, Croatian can confirm two representatives for the Paralympic Games, Split's Dino Sinovcic and Ivan Mikulic.
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