Putin, Russia's
58-year-old paramount leader, has cultivated an action-man image with regular
stunts that underline his physical prowess, from helping the national judo team
to fighting forest fires.
When quizzed by Campbell about why he was shown
thrashing across a Siberian river in 2009, Putin said: "I was swimming
butterfly because the water was cold. It was one of the famous Siberian rivers
and the water was something like 16 degrees Celsius.
My idea was to get out of
the water as soon as possible," Putin was quoted as saying in the
interview for men's magazine GQ. Campbell praised Putin's physique and asked
how he kept fit.
"I go to the gym, I swim daily and from time to time I
meet with friends and spend some time on the judo mats. I had a good work-out
just the day before yesterday," Putin told Campbell.
Putin praised female
journalism students from a prestigious Russian university who posed in slinky
lingerie for a calendar filled with warm - sometimes steamy - birthday
greetings for the prime minister's 58th birthday in 2010. "I like the
girls a lot, they're beautiful," Putin said. "The girls in the calendar were courageous."
