Elena Krawzow glides from the platform to the pool at the signal. Half a second of silence. Then his hands pierce the surface of the pool and enter the water and the silence is broken. Krawzow dives into the water and starts counting strokes.
Krawzow later recalled, “I have no idea what was going on around me in those moments.” he says:
“One reason is my disability, the other is concentration.
“I count strokes to keep myself focused. That way I know at which stroke I’m going to meet the wall of the pool and turn around.
“I have no idea what’s going on in lane third or fifth. I’m just interested in what I’m doing. My technique and the race…”
The 28-year-old athlete is visually impaired. He can see only 3 percent. In the water, he can neither choose his opponents, nor the waves, nor the reaction in the hall.
Krawzow doesn’t see the photographer either. But he hears the shutter being pressed, instructions on his pose, and words of encouragement.
Today he is not on the jumping platform of the pool, but on a pier on the sea… The water underneath is like a sheet, and the sun has taken its place in a way that completes the view. Wearing only a bikini bottom, Krawzow runs her hands through her hair with the photographer’s guiding words.
This is an atmosphere very far from the pool… Even further away from the line where it all started…
Krawzow was born in Mergen, a small town in southern Kazakhstan. It was 1993. His country gained its independence a little over two years ago. The scars of secession from the Soviet Union were still visible.
Boarding school and Germany
The Mergen family’s farm was in trouble for seeds and income. Krawzow and his brothers were fed tea and bread for days.
At the age of seven, life got even more difficult. His teachers noticed that he was starting to squint to see the blackboard. He held the books close to his face so that he could read them.
This development strengthened his family’s desire to leave the country. They wanted to go to a place where their young daughters would be well looked after and treated well.
First they went to Russia, to an eye hospital in Moscow. There, the little girl was diagnosed with macular degeneration and was sent to a boarding school for children with disabilities, where there was widespread violence.
When Elena turned 11, the family managed to start a new life in Germany.
“It wasn’t easy to change countries,” he recalls, saying:
“I was born in a small village, so European-style life was very new to me. I felt like an alien.
“But my family’s decision was the best. I’m very happy to live in Germany because the people here have helped me understand myself.”
One of those assistants was sports teacher Michael Heuer. Realizing that Krawzow was a waterfowl, Heuer realized that this might be the way for the young girl.
Krawzow, who spent his weekdays in the water by counting strokes and measuring distance, also immersed himself in music in Berlin’s techno clubs on weekends.
Playboy gerçekten büyük bir şeydi
He participated in the 2012 London Paralympics as an 18-year-old and brought his country Germany a silver medal.
A year later, he won his first world championship.
In 2016, he set a world record in his favorite branch, the 100m breaststroke.
The successes that came to him increased the interest in him. This opened different doors:
“I could have been popular before with the World Championship and the records coming in. But Playboy’s offer for this photo shoot was a really big deal.
“I am the first person with a disability to be on the cover of Playboy. It was a step forward in showing everyone in the world that someone with a disability can be the same as someone without a disability.”
Krawzow won the gold medal in the 100m breaststroke at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.
Other Paralympic athletes have actually done similar poses before.
British sprinter Jonnie Peacock posed topless for Attitude magazine. American athlete Sarah Reinertsen, who was amputated below the knee like Peacock, also posed nude for ESPN.
But Playboy’s Krawzow, who was on the cover of the German version of Playboy with erotic poses, was more popular than any other example.
The magazine, which appeared on newsstands in October 2020, brought up some questions: How do we view Paralympic athletes? Are we comfortable looking at other such examples? But what if an athlete in a wheelchair does this pose? Or a cerebral palsy patient?
Some Paralympic athletes have expressed in the past that they do not like to be called “inspirational figures”.
“I wanted to show that someone with a disability is the same as someone without a disability,” Krawzow says.
“We want a chance to live the way we want. We want to be able to love ourselves, regardless of our disability.
“Part of the population in Germany is very shy and shy around people with disabilities. I don’t know why. We are not dangerous. We are normal people. That was my struggle, I wanted to show people that we are completely normal, that they can talk to us like normal people.
“Many people thanked me by writing to me on Instagram. They said it motivated them, it made them feel better. That was great to hear.”
But not everyone admired the photos. For his parents, who came from a small village in Kazakhstan, the generational and cultural difference was huge.
Her father didn’t talk to her about her erotic photos. He commented that the other frames he shared on his social media accounts did not contain warmth.
After all these discussions, he was in the pool where he was comfortable again.
About a year after the Playboy shoot, he was in the water for a medal with an entire swimsuit.
But even though he couldn’t see it while he was in the water in Tokyo, he could sense a rival.
“After the 50 meter turn, I got the thought that someone was ahead of me. Maybe Rebecca was faster than me.” she remembers those moments.
British swimmer Rebecca Redfern was leading a really short distance. Krawzow felt the gold medal slip from his hands once again.
Beyin tümörü ile gelen yıkım
He returned 5th from Rio, where he went as a world record holder 4 years ago.
He sped up inch by inch, so as not to experience the same again.
Krawzow was the first to touch the finish, but he was the last to know:
“I asked the volunteer what my time was. It was a very emotional moment for me when I realized I was the first. I sacrificed so much for this medal and I was the happiest girl in the world.”
Krawzow traveled, celebrated, and engaged to her boyfriend after the gold medal. Life was beautiful, but the headaches were increasing.
He had felt these in Tokyo as well, but he paid no attention to the long flight, the change of weather. But after experiencing pain in Paris, she underwent a CT scan, where she was found to have a malignant brain tumor.
“I was in a very happy moment and the diagnosis was just a second later… I was totally devastated,” Krawzow says.
The young swimmer then had an operation. Then came the chemotherapy and radiotherapy sessions, which lasted for 10 months.
Our last meeting with him was interrupted by such a session, but luckily the news from the doctor was good.
Krawzow, 28, still works and competes. There is a tournament ahead of him in Portugal. And then the Paris 2024 games.
Elena Krawzow shows how willing she is still, saying, “I think the most important thing in life is to focus on goals rather than sitting at home and thinking about bad things.”