Ugolkova made the announcement through an Instagram post on New Year’s Eve. She posted several photos from her swimming career and wrote the following caption:

Maria spoke to Swimswam on January 2, 2023, a few days after announcing her retirement. During the interview, the swimmer said,

Maria Ugolkova continued,

Ugolkova has a Master’s in Banking and Finance, according to Swimswam. She may be eager to explore her career in the same.

Maria was born in Moscow on July 18, 1989. She speaks five languages: German, English, French, Italian, and Russian. She represented Russia in international competitions until 2015.

Maria Ugolkova’s first competition representing Switzerland was the 2015 World Championships in Kazan, Russia. She has won three medals in the European Championships. The Swiss swimmer won two silver medals in 200-meter medley events during the 2019 European Championships in Glasgow and the 2021 European Championships in Kazan. She won another bronze medal in the 200-meter medley during the 2018 European Championships in Glasgow.

Maria now bids farewell to the sport of swimming with 19 Swiss Records. Out of the 19, 10 records are in individual events. Maria Ugolkova has the most records among the current Swiss record holders, according to Swimswam.

Since crossing the age of 30, Maria has shown major improvements in her performance. Among the 10 individual records she holds, seven were made in the past 18 months, as per Swimswam. Maria Ugolkova competed in the 2016 Rio Olympics and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Maria Ugolkova’s records in Individual events

Maria Ugolkova holds 10 Swiss national records in individual events. As revealed in Swimswam, the 10 national records held by Maria in Individual events are as follows:

200 LCM Free – 1:58. 77 (June 2017)100 LCM Fly – 58. 22 (July 2021)200 LCM IM – 2:10. 04 (July 2021)200 SCM Free – 1:56. 35 (November 2019)200 SCM Backstroke – 2:08. 07 (March 2019)100 SCM Fly – 56. 81 (October 2021)200 SCM Fly – 2:06. 26 (December 2021)100 SCM IM – 58. 25 (December 2021)200 SCM IM – 2:06. 41 (November 2021)400 SCM IM – 4:33. 51 (October 2021

Followers react to Maria Ugolkova’s retirement

Maria Ugolkova announced her retirement from swimming in an Instagram post. Fans and fellow swimmers reacted to the announcement in the comments section of her post.

Dutch star swimmer and two-time Olympic medalist Femke Heemskerk wrote:

Hungarian swimmer Zsuzsanna Jakabos wrote:

Roman Mityukov, the Swiss swimmer, wrote:

Elena Krawzow, the German Paralympic swimmer and two-time Paralympic Games medalist, wrote:

Italian swimmer Ilaria Cusinato wrote:

Noe Ponti, Swiss swimmer and Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist, wrote:

Jolann Bovey, the Swiss swimmer, wrote:

One of Maria’s followers posted a comment, saying,

A few more reactions from fans and fellow swimmers can be seen below:

Despite retiring from professional swimming, Maria Ugolkova will forever support other swimmers who compete in the swimming arena.

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