Although soccer is among the most popular sports in Russia, swimming is Sasha Lyubavskiy’s true passion.
He knew he was not the tallest, or the strongest, or the fastest. Regardless, he emailed every Division 1 swim coach he could in his senior year of high school, begging for a chance to show what he was made of.
“I had to text them first,” business sophomore Lyubavskiy said. “I sent a lot of emails to many different Division 1 programs.”
Wyatt Collins, UT’s associate head coach for men’s swimming and diving, eventually took interest in Lyubavskiy. After that, it was all about packing his bags. Texas needed him.
Lyubavskiy was born Feb. 14, 2004 in Moscow, Russia. But being born 6,000 miles away from Austin doesn’t make him any less relatable. His favorite shows on Netflix include “Breaking Bad” and “Stranger Things.” Whenever he has time to himself, you can probably catch him eating at Cabo Bob’s with the rest of his teammates.
A typical day for Lyubavskiy starts at about 5:55 a.m. when he wakes up for his 6:30 a.m. practice. After practice, he’ll eat breakfast and head to class. After class, he eats lunch, then takes a quick nap before lifting. After his lift, he swims yet again before dinner. He does homework and studies for a few hours before ending his day at 9 p.m. While Lyubavskiy works consistently to get better, he still doubts his skills.
On his quest to continually improve, Lyubavskiy injured himself in December 2022. After a tough rehab practice, he ended up reinjuring himself.
“I had to skip a month of training and then when I recovered, I injured myself again,” Lyubavskiy said. “I struggled last season and it wasn’t as good as I expected, but … I (made) some changes. I adapted more to the new training that I do.”
Still, he wants to be the best. That’s why he is so grateful for his teammates constantly pushing him to get better. Even when he could barely speak English, they were always by his side, ready to help in any way they could.
“When I first came here, I was really quiet. … I am kind of an introvert,” Lyubavskiy said. “But all my teammates were very nice to me. They were always very helpful, always trying to help me with my classes or at the swimming pool.”
Despite the setbacks, Lyubavskiy wants to pay his teammates back by qualifying for the NCAA tournament this year and helping Texas claim victory to another national title.
