NSU Horizons Fall 2017

2012 Russian Olympic team but was not selected, he said, due to “politics” and favoritism for other athletes. “We had heard he was really good,” said Pittman, who graduated from NSU’s College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences in May with a degree in paralegal studies. “For a whole semester, we were waiting to meet him, and when he first walked on the pool deck, you knew he was going to change things around here. I just got that feeling.” Pittman added, “When he jumped in the water, the first thing he did was his breaststroke, which we were hyped up about. He took just three or four strokes to complete a lap where other swimmers would need 12 or 13. I had never seen that before. It sounds crazy, but you just have to see it.” Lobanov, who is 6 feet tall and weighs 187 pounds, grew up playing hockey and soccer recreationally. But swimming—and the breaststroke in particular—was his most natural sport. The breaststroke is an odd event for most swimmers, but not for Lobanov. “If you got thrown off a boat, you would swim freestyle or the backstroke,” Hewitt said, “not the breaststroke.” Lobanov, though, said his youth coaches told him that, even at age seven, his kick was natural for the breaststroke. “We have this saying in Russia,” Lobanov said, “A chicken is not a bird, and a breaststroker is not a swimmer. But for me, I was born this way. A breaststroker just needs a special connection between arms and legs.” Lobanov, who was recruited by the University of Florida, came to the U.S. to swim in high school for Jackson- ville’s Bolles Swim Club. The NSU staff discovered him when his Bolles club team came to Fort Lauderdale to compete. Once at NSU, Lobanov took advantage of his opportunity, master- ing the English language and compil- ing a 3.2 grade-point average. A busi- ness administration major, Lobanov is scheduled to graduate by May 2018. Although his athletic eligibility has expired, Lobanov will spend the next year helping Hewitt coach the NSU team, especially working with the breaststrokers, his specialty. Hewitt said Lobanov has a lot to offer. “Anton has a real awareness for technique. He understands how to move with efficiency,” Hewitt said. “He is able to tell if his push-off was a quarter-inch too deep. Even with that small a fraction, he can see it and feel it and make an adjustment.” Hewitt adds, “A lot of swimmers tend to sacrifice technique when they are tired—not Anton. His presence as a swimmer will be missed. But he will help us with advice and his coaching instinct.” n 57 NSU HORIZONS Anton Lobanov, left, earned the respect of his teammates, who were not surprised that he dominated the breaststroke event for the third straight season.