On Wednesday morning, Simon Sjödin takes the step into the last championship of his career.
15 years after his debut at the European Championships in Budapest, he closes the circle in the Hungarian capital.
- I will make sure to enjoy every moment and really take advantage of this.
There is no pressure on me, but I will finish nicely where it all started, says Sjödin who has 200 meters medley as main number and aims for a final place.
Later this week, he also swims 100 meters butterfly.
What he will do after his swimming career, he has left open.
But one thing he knows.
After his participation in former pole star Alhaji Jeng's series "Blue and Yellow Heroes", where eight national team stars in various sports talk openly about racism and prejudice, he wants to move on in that fight.
"Been pretty hectic"
He has already received offers.
- Yes, it has been quite hectic, so I have said that I do not want to take a stand on anything now.
When the European Championships are over, we can start sketching out ideas, says Sjödin whose father is from Gambia.
TT: What reactions have you received for your participation in the TV series?
- Very positive, people I do not know have written and thanked for highlighting certain issues and for being brave.
It was fun that Alhaji took me on the program series, because I feel that this is important, he says.
In the program, Simon Sjödin tells, among other things, about the adversity in 2012 when he was not selected for the Olympics in London.
The Swedish Swimming Association, the national team mates and other swimmers were upset when they thought that Sjödin had met all the criteria, but the Swedish Olympic Committee (SOK) did not give in and said a resounding no.
Painful last stop
Sjödin was close to retiring, but decided to show that SOK had made a mistake and got his revenge when he qualified for Rio 2016, his second Olympics.
But over the years, Simon Sjödin has wondered if the page quilting in 2012 "depends on my skin color, my background or that I am not a good person", as he put it in the program.
Simon Sjödin says that he avoided taking a public fight against, among other things, racism during his time as active "because he was busy with his career".
But in the future there is time.
- Each individual has a responsibility. Of course, I will get involved in swimming skills and racism and things that are close to my heart. I will try to be an ambassador and make sure that swimming is exemplary when it comes to inclusion and respect for each other, he says.