Yesterday in the studio of "Morning briefing" the guest was the Macedonian swimming legend, marathoner Tomi Stefanovski. For those who do not know, I will tell you that he is the only athlete from Macedonia who has entered the "Hall of Fame". In the political gray, I said to myself, it is nice to hear a guest who will speak on another topic, such as sports and swimming, but it is unfortunate that even that does not pass without problems imposed by political interests.

Swimming as a sport is very popular in Macedonia, more and more children come to the pools to play sports and that is a sight that makes you happy. But what about those kids who want swimming to be a profession in their lives, who want to climb high on the swimming map?

What is especially worrying, as Stefanovski pointed out, is that Macedonia has a traditional marathon, the Ohrid marathon, which is one of the four such in the world, but unfortunately there are no swimmers who in the future will represent us worthily at this world event. In the men's category we currently have the brilliant marathon swimmers Evgenij Pop-Acev and Aleksandar Ilievski, and in the women's category we do not have such swimmers. The last woman to run a marathon was the famous Theodora Raptis in 2005. And these data are devastating for us as a country. There is no fresh blood.

Why is that so and why sports in Macedonia, especially those disciplines that are not as popular as football and handball, are stagnant? Where is the state wrong? In the absence of strategy or in the absence of interest? It is necessary to create new and young staff, but how?

The country does not have a strategy for marathon swimming, as Stefanovski pointed out, but he, with all his experience and knowledge, managed to assemble one and submit it to the Agency for Youth and Sports as the most competent institution, although there is no feedback from there. There is no support from the Swimming Federation either, which has been facing a million problems and divisions of "ours and yours" for years. It is obvious that the state is deaf to the challenges. Why did no one sit down to consider what Stefanovski offered them, why did no one call him for a conversation, to see if what he had conceived and offered could be realized?

It is nice when at the opening of the Ohrid Marathon you see the Prime Minister and the President, the director of the Agency for Youth and Sports, and even the Minister of Health, but have they ever wondered - why Macedonia has not taken out new marathon swimmers for years ?

It is necessary for the state to finally put its finger on its head, roll up its sleeves and start investing in sports seriously. To sit at a table with professionals, because there are such, and to build a strategy that will not be guided by politics and profit, but by sports interest. Let's not put ourselves in a situation where our great swimmers go to the Olympics and finish among the last or we have taekwondo fighters who will return with silver medals, and we have heard about them for the first time.

Athletes should not be left alone in building their careers, because, after all, at sporting events where they represent us, they do not wave the family flag, but the state flag, and do not swim in the name of a club or parents, but in the name of the state. It is good for politicians when they take pictures and brag about the successes of athletes, but in those successes they should invest money, not just flashes.