There are sports that are associated exclusively with femininity, grace, and are at the junction of sports and art. Gelena Topilina (synchronized swimming is her area of interest) - one of the most beautiful and brightest “mermaids” of the Russian team, found her vocation in life, having tried several activities in childhood. At 23, she already became a three-time world champion, Olympic champion.
Birth of the Little Mermaid
Gelena Topilina, synchronized swimming for which is not just a sport, was born in Zelenograd in 1994. The girl’s father was not a stranger to sports. He was actively engaged in sambo, and after the end of his sports career he headed the federation of this type of martial arts in his hometown.
According to Dmitry Viktorovich, sport was practically the only way to protect children from the influence of the streets at that time and give his daughter the opportunity to exercise her strength.
Not immediately Gelena Topilina found her calling. A very young girl was taken to classes in gymnastics and rhythmic gymnastics, tried her hand at figure skating. Especially depressing were the "successes" of Helena in its final form. An active and agile girl, she immediately disliked the skating rink and skates and carefully sabotaged the workouts, constantly simulating pain in her legs. After three months of classes, Topilina’s parents realized that the second Slutskaya or Butyrskaya would not work out of her daughter, and saved her from torment.
Acquaintances of Dmitry Viktorovich advised him to take his daughter for viewing to Elena Gryzunova, who was an authoritative coach in synchronized swimming. The Sports Palace was in Moscow, and it took more than one hour to get to Zelenograd. However, Gryzunova with an experienced look appreciated the rich potential of the girl and persistently began to persuade her parents not to reckon with difficulties and lead Gehlen to training.
Youthful success
The magnificent swimming pool made a huge impression on the six-year-old girl. She was immediately imbued with the atmosphere of a beautiful sport, was delighted with the costumes of older girls, from the music that accompanied the synchronized actress numbers. So Gelena Topilina came in synchronized swimming. The biography of the young Zelenogradka from that time received a certain direction.
Serious sports are time consuming.
Sometimes the schedule of competitions and fees coincided with the lessons at school. However, at some point, Gelena Topilina, for whom synchronized swimming became a profession, realized that sport for her was not just a way of hanging out. Sometimes anecdotal situations arose. The physical education coach of school No. 1150 put the young athlete three for a quarter, explaining this by numerous absenteeism. Enraged, Dmitry Viktorovich came to school and discovered to a dumbfounded physical education student that one of his students is a master of sports.
At the age of twelve, Helena began to participate in major international competitions. The Open Mediterranean Cup was essentially a children's World Cup. At this tournament, Gelena Topilina, along with her teammates, first felt the taste of international victories.
Then it was time to participate in the junior competitions, and after adulthood, and be selected in the adult team.
Adult wins
The trainer of the Russian Olympic team was and is the legendary Tatyana Pokrovskaya, who selected the girls in her team, put incredibly complex and beautiful programs for the synchronized synchronists, who were the best in the world. Gelena Topilina had to undergo a strict selection in the number of Pokrovskaya pets as much as two times. After a successful first casting, the girl was forced to interrupt her sports career in connection with family circumstances.
However, a year later, everything changed, and Gelena Topilina, for whom synchronized swimming was the meaning of life, was able to return to the team, refuting the saying that it is impossible to enter the same river twice.
As part of the group, the girl won her first major adult tournament, becoming the European champion in 2014.
The most important tournament was the home world championship in Kazan, held in 2015. It was important to prove oneself from the best side. Gelena and the other girls of Pokrovskaya succeeded; she left the competition in Tatarstan three-time world champion.
Olympiad
The main tournament for synchronized swimmers is the Olympic Games. In Rio, Gelena Topilina made her way through a rigid sieve of team selection, but was called to play the role of understudy. Eight girls represented the main team, and Gelena had to replace one of them if necessary.
Tatyana Pokrovskaya nevertheless gave the girl a gold medal and gave her a place to participate in the technical program. As in previous tournaments, the Russian team turned out to be the best, and Topilina Gelena (synchronized swimming), whose photo now flaunts on the honor board in her native school, entered the host of Olympic champions.