KUSCH Marius

General
MOVE TO THE UNITED STATES
From 2016 to 2019 he studied at Queens University of Charlotte in North Carolina, United States of America, an NCAA Division II swimming college. "Honestly, [Queens] wasn't my first choice. My top choice was [University of] Louisville, but due to eligibility reasons Division I wouldn't work out for me, so I only had the choice of going to a Division II [college]. And funnily enough the head coach of swimming at Louisville, Arthur Albiero, was great friends with the head coach from Queens, Jeff Dugdale, so he was thrilled to have me on board and that's how it worked out. If I had the chance to do it all over again, there's nothing I would change." (Inside with Brett Hawke YouTube channel, 11 Mar 2020)

FROM COLLEGE TO TEAM ELITE
A week after graduating from Queens University of Charlotte, he moved to San Diego, CA, to train with the Team Elite Aquatics squad under David Marsh. He says working under Marsh has resulted in numerous small changes that have had an overall impact on his swimming. "[We're] doing a lot of small things and making those add up, it's not one big solution. So for example I've started really worrying about my sleep because I wasn't feeling recovered, so I've been making sure I get 8-9 hours each night. I've been caring more about nutrition, eating the right things to get my calories, as I've struggled to maintain and put on weight, so we've been working with nutritionists. And then in the water, just being very detail-orientated. I've been working a lot on my strokes, whether it's freestyle or butterfly, and really caring about the small, tiny details. In the beginning you think it doesn't make a lot of difference but once you can apply that you find that you're moving way more efficiently through the water rather than working against it. I love David's way of coaching, he is a big contributor to me being able to show these performances right now [in 2020]." (Inside with Brett Hawke YouTube channel, 11 Mar 2020)

BUTTERFLY FOCUS
In early 2020 he said he was focusing primarily on competing in the 100m butterfly at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. "100m butterfly is my main event. I'll also go for [Olympic qualification in] the 100m freestyle, but butterfly is definitely my main event." He is aiming to win a medal, but said he is not focusing on a specific time in order to achieve his goal. "I try not to overthink times too much, or going to a meet and thinking that I have to do this or I have do that time. Every athlete has a certain idea of what it takes [to win an Olympic medal], for me I always try to really execute the things that I've been working on, making sure I hit my turn, I hit my start and all these little details. There's always the philosophy of 'win first, look at the [time] board after' and that's how I try to approach it. I have a rough idea of what it takes, but I'm not trying to overthink the time because ultimately if [an Olympic medal-winning time] is going to be a 50.51s, a 50.52s or a 50.53s there is only so much you can do. So I'm always working on my details first, executing the race, then worry about the time after. [Regarding race tempo] I count my kicks in my races, strokes not so much. I count them [strokes] in practice sometimes." (Inside with Brett Hawke YouTube channel, 11 Mar 2020)

POST-TOKYO FUTURE
He has a visa to stay in the United States of America until the end of 2022. In 2020 he said he wasn't sure yet if he would continue swimming through to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. "For now [2020] I've thought about the next two years. I just don't think that I'm done yet. I love the sport a lot. I still see a lot of improvements constantly, and as long I'm making improvements and I'm loving the sport I want to stay in. I don't know if it's going to be for another four years [through to Paris 2024]. For now I am focusing on the next two years, and depending on how everything goes we'll see. I am on a visa for