Russian synchronized swimmer Varvara Subbotina says her social media addiction is so strong she “gets shaky” when she’s without her mobile phone – adding that one coach urged her to be “more modest” with the images she shares.
The four-time world champion said she gets stressed whenever she spends too much time without her phone, unable to check the latest social media updates.
“I can honestly admit that I’m an Instagram addict,” Subbotina said.
“If I don’t have a mobile phone in my hands and can’t scroll through social media posts it gets me shaky. Tatyana Nikolaevna (Pokrovskaya, Russia’s synchronized swimming head coach) doesn’t use social networks, but she has been constantly informed of what we are sharing there.”
The 18-year-old, who is widely considered one of the most talented young swimmers in Russia, stressed that she was even banned from using Instagram as the “unhealthy addiction” impacted her training.
“Last year, my coach (Tatyana Danchenko) told me that I needed an Instagram break, because I had an unhealthy addiction which took so much energy from me. I was prohibited from sharing pictures. Later, we agreed that it will depend on my results: if I perform well – I can make an Instagram post,” Subbotina revealed.
The swimmer also noted that duet coach Danchenko told her to be “more modest” while sharing pictures, some of which she found to be too revealing.