Russia’s swimmers should aim to win seven medals at the Olympic Games in London this summer, including at least one gold, head coach Andrei Vorontsov said Tuesday.
Russia has only ever reached this standard once with an eight-medal haul in Atlanta in 1996, and the last three Olympics have yielded a total of just seven medals.
“In our plan we have seven medals, one of them gold,” Vorontsov said.
“If we take a gold medal, then our plan will have been fulfilled to a great extent.”
Vorontsov has targets for individual swimmers but was not prepared to reveal them for fear of upsetting the team, he suggested.
“The athletes get offended if you hang medals on them beforehand,” he said.
The country’s coaches are selecting the Olympic squad at the national championships in Moscow, which started Tuesday and run through Sunday.
