Denis Petrashov said he hopes his surprise 100 metres breaststroke bronze medal at the world championships in Singapore on Monday will see more resources flow into the sport back home in Kyrgyzstan.
Petrashov is one of just two swimmers from Kyrgyzstan at the meet alongside Aiymkyz Aidaralieva but the 25-year-old made his presence felt by finishing behind Qin Haiyang of China and Italian Nicolo Marinenghi at the Singapore Sports Hub.
His time of 58.88 was a national record and earned Kyrgyzstan their first-ever medal at the world championships.
It was also just 0.65 seconds off Qin's winning mark.
"I'm not an emotional person, but this is very emotional for me. First medal for my country at the worlds, so very proud and happy. I was not expecting this at all," said Petrashov, who was swimming in lane 1.
"I had no idea where I was in the race. I saw the turn, we were close to each other, but I didn't see anything.
"Of course we all want to win something. This was the final, I had nothing to lose. If you have a lane, you have a chance. It means a lot."
Petrashov, who has competed at three Olympic Games and won silver at the Youth Olympics in 2018, hoped his medal would raise the profile of the sport in the Central Asian country.
"Swimming is not very popular in my country. Hopefully, we'll get more resources for swimming. We don't have an Olympic-sized pool in Kyrgyzstan," he added.
"Hopefully this is a big step to more things."