Byzantine Blog

European Swimming Champion: It's an Honor to Represent Serbia

European champion Milorad Cavic, expelled on Friday from the swimming competition in Eindhoven, a small town in the northern part of Fourth Reich, because of a t-shirt which says Kosovo is Serbia, talked to Belgrade daily Politika ahead of returning to Serbia.

"I always love coming to Belgrade. I'll get some rest from the swimming, but I will start dry trainings very soon in the gym, to prepare for the Olympic Games. Olympic medal is my dream and I'll do everything to achieve it," one of Serbia's top athletes said.

Regarding a shockingly harsh, malicious punishment that went as far as banning the Serbian champion from the rest of competition, in addition to the high penalty fee, Cavic said:

"I’m sorry it all turned out like this. I didn’t think it would all be this drastic. I’m sorry that they didn’t let me swim the 100m races, where I’d definitely have tried to beat the European record. On the other hand, this competition isn’t a priority for me. I had a great rehearsal in the 50m, I saw that I was headed in the right direction, and now I’m resuming my preparations for the Olympics."

Despite everything that has happened due to a Dutch Obersturmführer Erik van Heijningen seeking no less than Cavic's expulsion, Serbia’s finest swimmer has no regrets regarding his actions.

"I don’t regret it! I did what I felt was right. What's written on the t-shirt is a fact. The explanation to the whole story is very simple and there’s no reason to look for any deeper reasons. This is my opinion, shared by the vast majority of people in Serbia. I know how sad things have been of late. I wanted to show my true feelings and affinity. I’m proud of my people and it’s always an honor for me to represent my country," said Cavic, who won the gold medal and set a new European record in the 50m butterfly on Thursday.

"What is written on the t-shirt is what I believe, and what is the truth. I’ve read over the internet how people have been giving me support for what I’ve done. That’s what makes me proud. I’m sure some people think I did wrong, but it wouldn’t be right if we all agreed on everything."

"They Talked About Me Like I'm a Criminal"

A 23-year-old was saddened to find that there was an intention on behalf of the Dutch organizer to punish him exceedingly harshly from the outset:

"I talked to the president Erik van Heijningen, who told me he doesn't want politics in this competition. But no one else complained, it was only him alone who insisted on disciplinary action. I was in awe with the disciplinary panel members who knew what my t-shirt said. I learned the Cyrillic only four years ago, even though I'm a Serb, but they seem to be language experts on top of everything else," Cavic joked.

"I was most upset with the lies in the charges. They said I removed the race number and that I was hiding the flag underneath the t-shirt. They talked about me like I'm a criminal. That's why I reacted emotionally at one point during yesterday's meeting and ordeal that lasted more than two hours. I thought that, even if according to their rules, they find that I'm guilty, they'll issue a warning, but they decided to go with a drastic punishment. I accepted things as they are and I'm ready for new challenges," Cavic said.

Popovic: Dutch Organizers Were Keen to Prevent Serb from Winning Another Gold

Petar Popovic, Cavic's trainer and manager, considers the punishment Eindhoven organizers leveled against the young Serb entirely shameful. He told Politika it was obvious that the Dutch were keen to prevent Cavic from taking part in further competitions, where he was a favorite for at least one more gold medal.

"If they wanted to prevent Cavic from wearing that t-shirt and Serbian flag at the awards ceremony, they could've told him that beforehand. He was there for over 15 minutes. After the race, he waited for the announcement of winners more than 10 minutes, in the t-shirt and with a flag draped around his shoulders. How is it possible that the pedantic organizers missed all that, only to turn it into a major issue afterwards? It hurts when you see that everything always breaks over the backs of the "small" countries and on Serbia most often. I'm quite sure that if he wore a 'Free Tibet' t-shirt everyone in Holland would've been thrilled," Popovic said.

As for Kosovo is Serbia t-shirt, Cavic's trainer said that "Kosovo is part of my country, just like Bavaria is part of Germany. But they decided to punish us, and whether they have good arguments for their decision or not doesn't seem to bother them in the least."

Van Heijningen's Hypocrisy: Kipke Crimes Vs Cavic T-Shirt

Popovic can't think of any swimmer who was banned from the competition before Cavic, unless it was discovered the competitor was doped. Unfortunately for the LEN commission that chose to ban a Serb for wearing a "wrong" t-shirt, we learned that many of the swimmers who were allowed to compete and were winning medals thanks to heavy dosages of steroids, were never banned either and are allowed to keep their medals years after it was discovered how they obtained them.

Writing about the LEN's harsh punishment of a Serbian champion, Craig Lord notes it's a "great pity [LEN] chose never to highlight the crime of 97 out of 108 gold medals at European Championships for East German women between 1973 and 1989 on a diet of Oral Turinabol."

"As late as 1992, Dr Lothar Kipke, then member of FINA and LEN medical commissions and a man honoured with federation prizes, sat on a platform at a LEN sports medicine symposium in Stockholm," Lord reminds.

"By then, the first evidence was pouring out of a set of Stasi files stocked with proof that the entire GDR results book was a lie, and that Kipke was among the chief criminals at the helm of State Plan 14:25, a man who spent two decades sticking needles full of steroids and other substances into the rears and arms of swimmers, some as young as 12. Kipke was convicted in a German court of bodily harm. It is well past the time when those who govern European and world swimming (and that often means the same men and women) stripped Kipke and others of his ilk of any prizes and honours won at a time when they were working tirelessly to bring the sport into disrepute as they abused generations of young athletes. Kipke's dark work knocks Cavic's indiscretion into a cocked hat - with the force of a cannon and a following wind."

So much for Van Heijningen's righteous indignation and alleged principles.

Serbia's Hero Moves On

As for Serbia's latest young hero, he announced that Dutch pettiness and malice won't affect him in the least:

"I’m an athlete, swimming is my whole life, and I still believe that what I did has nothing to do with politics. For me it’s the fact that Kosovo is Serbia. I had no intention of offending anyone with that message, but just to show what I think. It’s the only truth in this whole story. It might have irritated some, they’ve penalized me, and I’ve accepted it. There’s no time to dwell on it, we’re going to new victories."

Recommended: Kosovo is Serbia, Milorad Cavic (YouTube); Milorad Cavic sets new European Record 50 fly - 23,11 (YouTube)