The Indian proverb says: "Sow an act - reap a habit, sow a habit - reap a character, sow a character - reap a destiny." Oksana Savchenko and her mother sowed actions since childhood. They manifested themselves in character with a core that can not be broken, since sixteen, when the girl became the world champion in swimming.
How it all began
October 10, 1990 in the family of Vladimir and Svetlana Savchenko there was a holiday - Ksyushenka, Oksanochka was born. Her name will be meaningful early on, from infancy. It is translated into Russian as a "wanderer." Dad and mom lived in a hostel in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and began to notice that the baby rubs her eyes all the time. A doctor was called, and he convincingly said that it was just conjunctivitis. But daughter kept crying and did not sleep. Mom was seriously worried, began to seek direction in the capital, and when she finally received it, she went with a four-month-old baby to Moscow. There they made a terrible diagnosis: glaucoma, optic nerves die off, all lacrimal canals are clogged, an urgent need to be operated on. Thus began the life of Oksana Savchenko.
Several operations were performed during the year. One eye remained invisible, and the other saw hardly, but nevertheless saw. And the process was stopped. With these results, the daughter and mother returned home. Parents had to get used to the fact that their daughter is not like all the children. And the child himself perceived himself, as if it were necessary. The girl is accustomed to one eye.
Sport, let's be friends
At five, mom started taking her daughter to the pool. She seemed to feel that this would benefit not only health and figure. She wanted Oksana Savchenko to grow at least without physical restrictions. After all, at school, the daughter was teased with cross-eyed, but she did not pay attention to it. Vision remained minimal, 0.05! We had to spend twice as much effort on studying than classmates. Oksana Savchenko wanted to run around the yard with her children after school, and her mother purposefully led her again and again to swimming. Her first coach was Natalia Vladimirovna Sadovskaya. The child showed obvious abilities. A well-deserved trainer Vladimir Vasilyevich Revyakin began to deal with Oksana. At 13, Savchenko Oksana received a prize in the world championship. At age 14, she became a candidate for the Russian Paralympic team.
In Bashkiria
After graduation, it was decided that the girl would move to Ufa to Igor Tveryakov, who had raised more than one champion. He noticed Oksana when she was 12 years old. At first, she lived for 2 years in the family of her coach, Igor Lvovich. He did not want Oksana to be alone in the hostel. He himself did not have mansions, but everyone settled down. Igor Lvovich lived in one room with his wife, in the other - son Denis, and in the third - Oksana with the daughter of a trainer, who was 2 years younger than her. The bed is one for two. Since that time, the girl had a second family, and even a brother and sister. So she perceives Tveryakov.
After three gold medals in Beijing (the first paralympics) in 2008, Oksana Savchenko bought a one-room apartment in Ufa. And the coach - a Nissan jeep, because they paid nothing for 3 gold medals. There is such a rule that you need to raise a champion for 2 years, but he did not have enough for several months. She was in light euphoria, her head was spinning with success, there were tears of joy and happiness. Oksana Savchenko got a little proud of herself. The Paralympic champion remained contact and accessible, friendly and welcoming, as she always has been. But still she got sick with star disease and at the next competitions in Ireland at the European Championship she received only silver. The coach became angry and promised to abandon her if he was lazy. The conclusion was obvious: you need to train more. Since that time, Oksana has not lost.
A spoon of tar
In our country, for some reason, it is customary to consider an invalid or, if it is more beautiful to put it, a person with disabilities who has no arms or legs. But in the Paralympic movement, sick people are strictly divided into classes and compete among themselves. There are such tough commissions that they cannot be outwitted. We even envy the success of a sick person.
The coach immediately warned his guys that they were ready for the mud tubs after victories. Oksana is the best, and she gets the most. Oksana has a girlfriend, whose name is Anechka. Her parents actually abandoned her. The girl needed a difficult operation. And who gave the money? Oksana. But no one appreciated this. Now there is some dynamics for the better. After the London Paralympics were widely covered, people began to gradually change their attitude towards athletes. They began to thank for a great example. The symbol of the Paralympic was Olesya Vladykina (swimmer) - the ambassador of Sochi.
Study
The trainer believed that Oksana should get a higher education, and not just swim. She began to study at two universities in Ufa. In pedagogical, at the faculty of physical education, and in oil - majoring in fire safety, and successfully graduated from them. No one helped, and she did not wait for her. She understands that, most likely, she will not be either a coach or an engineer. There are no such inclinations. Therefore, in 2014 she continued her studies, now as an extramural student, at the Bashkir Academy under the President of the BR. She is going to get involved in politics.
What is the character of the champion
She is a calm and confident person, although she sees extremely poorly. Sometimes a girl wears glasses, but in them the head begins to hurt very quickly. Oksana never took offense at God for her weakness. She is already happy that she sees the world at least a little, even with one eye.
Today it is difficult for her to imagine life without sports. But when a healthy person begins to complain about life with her, Oksana always offers to watch the Paralympic Games. There are guys without arms, without legs, with cerebral palsy. Watching is very difficult and painful, but necessary. Oksana does not like sympathy. She has a proud, self-respecting character.
No one needs examples
She believes that when some kind of disease suddenly knocks a person out of a full life, he falls into a depression, and simply does not know how to live on. Not everyone knows how to rebuild. It is very difficult for such people to find themselves anew. There are about fourteen million of them in our country, and most of them just get drunk. We should talk more about those who go to the stadium, to the gym, pool, so that people realize that not everything is lost.
Oksana Savchenko leads a great promotion of a healthy life. Her activities are simply unique. With her own money, Oksana shot a video about visually impaired and hearing swimmers. They showed even a young man who does not have two legs. Oksana put the matter on a professional basis. Filmed not by amateurs. They wanted to show everyone that ailments can be overcome, overpowered. It turned out to be a short story for 3 minutes, which later won prizes abroad. But in Bashkiria they didn’t show it on TV. They answered that they have no place for social advertising. And Oksana dreamed of continuing and making videos about wheelchair fencers, about judo for the blind. The meaning is the simplest: do not be shy, come to the sport. And it turned out to be useless to anyone! Oksana did not give up. I printed discs with stories with my own money and wanted to give them out to schools and universities for free. But this did not arouse interest. Although, if a healthy young man or girl sees what the guys with deep disabilities are doing, they may even think that they themselves can do this.
Champion's usual day
The rise is early, at six in the morning. He is followed by a run. At 7:00 - breakfast, and then training until lunch. Then, according to the schedule, daytime sleep follows. After him, the 2nd training session, which lasts until dinner. During training, everyone swims for about 10 - 20 km. And then it's time to sleep. Despite the exhausting workouts, a smile from Oksana’s lips does not leave.
Sunday is a rest up to 12 days (sleep, reading, etc.), in the afternoon - a walk. The main trouble is the pool. It does not meet Olympic standards. The length of the tracks should be 50 m, and in Ufa - 25. So athletes get used to swimming incorrectly. Therefore, when Ufa residents come to international competitions, they have to rebuild. When a person is blind, he swims and counts strokes with his hands in order to know when to enter the turn. The coach stands with a pole and hits the water, the sound indicates that the side is nearby. Still, there were injuries. Swimmers hit the board hard with their foreheads or hands. To normally adapt to the standard track size, a minimum of a week is required. If you don’t change, then you will be confused to wait for the path to end, look around and eventually lose speed, or maybe victory. Oksana sees a little rivals on adjacent tracks. It is very important for her that they are strong swimmers, so that they can be guided.
How to find out the result
The scoreboard is hard to see, or rather, Oksana cannot see anything on it and, in order to find out the result, immediately runs to the coach. In London, light bulbs were placed near the starting nightstands. The athlete comes to the finish line and immediately sees: one light comes on - that means first place, two - second, three - third. Light bulbs do not light, so there are no prizes.
Great English fiction greatly simplified the life of athletes.
Funny case
On the first day of the competition in China, Oksana went on a swim in the unmarked swimsuit in the morning.
This was previously allowed. And suddenly - you can’t. Need a special suit licensed. A quarter of an hour was left before the start. And the trainer needs the swimsuit. In a state of panic, she went around the entire pool and changed clothes in a minute, although this requires at least ten minutes. I had time for a swim, but in the pool I realized that I was incredibly tired and would probably swim badly. Yes, she received bronze, but everyone found out how to prepare for the first race.
How many medals does the champion have
Oksana Vladimirovna Savchenko herself did not count her awards. He thinks he’ll get about a hundred. About fifty were won at World Cups alone. And it's all gold.
She has some silver and bronze. And now let's count the gold since 2003: 124 medals were gained. In addition to sports awards, multiple champion of the Paralympics Oksana Savchenko was awarded the Order of Honor in 2009 and the Order of Friendship in 2012. Now her native Bashkiria noted the achievements of Oksana by the Order of Salavat Yulaev and the Order of Friendship of Peoples. So the life itself 26-year-old Savchenko Oksana. The biography will show what she will do in the future.
