Elena Semechin

Elena Semechin

Personal information
Born	(1993-10-26) 26 October 1993 (age 31) Novo-Voskresenovka (Andas batyr), Kazakhstan
Home town	Berlin, Germany
Sport
Country	Germany
Sport	Paralympic swimming
Disability	Stargardt's disease
Disability class	S12/SB12/SM12
Club	Berliner Schwimmteam
Coached by	Phillip Semechin
Medal record Women's para swimming Representing   Germany Paralympic Games 2020 Tokyo 100 m breaststroke SB13 2024 Paris 100 m breaststroke SB12 2012 London 100 m breaststroke SB13 World Championships 2013 Montreal 100 m breaststroke SB13 2019 London 100 m breaststroke SB13 2023 Manchester 100 m breaststroke SB12 2022 Madeira 100 m breaststroke SB13 2013 Montreal 50 m freestyle S13 European Championships 2014 Eindhoven 100 m breaststroke SB13 2016 Funchal 100 m breaststroke SB13 2018 Dublin 50 m freestyle S12 2018 Dublin 100 m breaststroke SB13 2018 Dublin 200 m individual medley SM13 2014 Eindhoven 50 m freestyle S13 2014 Eindhoven 200 m individual medley SM13 2018 Dublin 100 m butterfly S12 2018 Dublin 100 m freestyle S12

Elena Semechin ^{[1] [2]} (born 26 October 1993 as Elena Krawzow) is a blind German Paralympic swimmer who specializes in breaststroke and freestyle. ^{[3] [4]} She has macular degeneration, leaving her with only 3% vision. ^[5]

Early life and career

Born in Novo-Voskresenovka, a village in southern Kazakhstan, Elena Krawzow emigrated with her German-Kazakhstani family, moving to Russia, where she was diagnosed with macular degeneration. Whilst in Russia, Krawzow attend a boarding school for disabled children, before resettling in Germany aged 11. ^{[5] [6] [7]}

Krawzow won a silver medal in the 100m breaststroke - SB13 at the 2012 London Paralympics ^[5] before finishing fifth in the same event at Rio 2016.; ^[8] she went on to win the gold medal in the same category at Tokyo 2020. ^[9]

Personal life

In October 2020 Krawzow appeared topless on the front cover of the German edition of Playboy . ^[5] She got engaged to her boyfriend Phillip Semechin in the aftermath of Tokyo 2020. In 2021 she was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour. ^[5] In 2021, she married her coach and took his last name. ^[1] On September 16, 2025, they became parents of a son. ^[2]

References

1. "Vor Tumor-OP: Paralympics-Star Elena Krawzow hat geheiratet". www.promiflash.de (in German). 2 November 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
2. "Weltklasse-Schwimmerin wird erstmals Mutter". stern.de (in German). 17 September 2025. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
3. "Elena Krawzow - IPC Profile". International Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on 13 January 2020.
4. "Elena Krawzow". Team Deutschland (in German). Archived from the original on 7 November 2019.
5. "Elena Krawzow: The Paralympian who posed for Playboy magazine". BBC Sport . Archived from the original on 16 May 2022. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
6. "Паралимпийка Елена Кравцова едет в Рио за медалью для Германии". liveberlin.ru. Archived from the original on 25 September 2020. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
7. Apitius, Benjamin (10 September 2019). "So weit die Flügel tragen". Der Tagesspiegel Online (in German). Archived from the original on 12 June 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
8. "Women's 100m Breaststroke - SB13 - Final". Rio 2016 Paralympics. Rio 2016 Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games . Retrieved 16 May 2022.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
9. "Women's 100 metre breaststroke SB13 – Final results" (PDF). Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 September 2021. Retrieved 16 May 2022.

External links

• Elena Semechin at Swimrankings.net
• Elena Semechin at the International Paralympic Committee
• Elena Semechin at Team Deutschland Paralympics (in German)