Enquire Now
Written by Katsiaryna Kulpo on 21 January 2022

My journey in becoming an Olympian

Born in a family where my mother worked for a long time (over 30 years) as a swimming coach, love for sports was instilled in me from early childhood. For me it was fun. I loved going to the pool and watching my mom train her little kids. Even then I wanted to be like those children, to receive a goal, to play. My sport career began with diving. But it was not a long experience. At the age of 7, my mother brought me to the synchronized swimming club. At that time it was not a popular sport at all. I didn't know right away if I liked it or not. But after some time, when we began prepare for the first competition, I realized that this is really the place where I wanted to be. And so began my sports career of 16 years. It was unforgettable .

1997 Training at the club

The World Youth Games is a competition among junior athletes. It was my very first experience in my sports career as part of the Junior Team of the Republic of Belarus. The main goal of the Games is to involve sports youth in the Olympic Movement, prepare them for difficult psychological conditions of international competitions and select young talents to participate in future of the Olympic Games. There has never been such a competition in the history of the modern Olympic Movement. The World Youth Games were such a success that they later became permanent. Since 2004, they have been held a year before the Olympic Games, and since 2010 they have received the status of the Youth Olympic Games. 2005-2007 years of performances as part of the National Team (duet and team event) of the Republic of Belarus in the World and European Championships, international open European Championships.

European Championships, Eindhoven 2008

2007 German Open Championships; Bonn, Germany

But the most important thing that every athlete dreams of and I dreamed of is the Olympic Games. And my dream came true. Although it wasn't easy. Our team, represented by me, the coach and my partner, had to go through a difficult path. It took us about 3-4 years of hard struggle to prove to the judges and our opponents that we really deserve to represent our country at the Olympic Games in duet event.

2008 Summer Olympic Games 2008 , Beijing, China (Katsiaryna Kulpo - Anastassia Parfenova got 17th place in duet event with a score of 85.334)

 

I was so happy to be among the best athletes in the whole world and probably did not fully realize my success. I am very grateful to my coach for seeing hope in me, for believing in me. This invaluable experience will be remembered for a lifetime.

I enjoyed watching great routine from all over the worlds. Join me to watch this spectacular routine from Russia performed at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics Games.

 

Article written by Katsiaryna Kulpo

More Posts

21 February 2023

Coach Katya

Presenting Speedi Coach: Katsiaryna Kulpo HEAD COACH, SPEEDI ARTISTIC SWIMMING Hi, my name is Coach Katya and I am from Belarus. Here's my background: Started synchronised swimming career in 1996 Qualified […]
Read More
15 February 2023

Developing Grit: A Guide to Becoming a Better Swimmer

  TeamSPEEDI has adopted the value of GRIT for her athletes. What is Grit? Grit is a personality trait that is characterized by a combination of passion and perseverance for […]
Read More
26 January 2023

The Six Strokes in Swimming

Swimming is a popular recreational activity that involves propelling oneself in water using the arms and legs. It is also a competitive sport, in which athletes compete to achieve the […]
Read More

Browse By Category

Copyright 2024 SPEEDISWIM AQUATIC CENTRE - All Rights Reserved
chevron-down
× Hi SPEEDISWIM, I would like to find out more..