Elena Semechin
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| Born | 26 October 1993 Novo-Voskresenovka (Andas batyr), Kazakhstan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home town | Berlin, Germany | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Country |  Germany | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Paralympic swimming | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disability | Stargardt's disease | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disability class | S12/SB12/SM12 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Berliner Schwimmteam | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coached by | Phillip Semechin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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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
- ^ a b "Vor Tumor-OP: Paralympics-Star Elena Krawzow hat geheiratet". www.promiflash.de (in German). 2 November 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
- ^ a b "Weltklasse-Schwimmerin wird erstmals Mutter". stern.de (in German). 17 September 2025. Retrieved 25 September 2025.
- ^ "Elena Krawzow - IPC Profile". International Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on 13 January 2020.
- ^ "Elena Krawzow". Team Deutschland (in German). Archived from the original on 7 November 2019.
- ^ a b c d e "Elena Krawzow: The Paralympian who posed for Playboy magazine". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 16 May 2022. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
- ^ "Паралимпийка Елена Кравцова едет в Рио за медалью для Германии". liveberlin.ru. Archived from the original on 25 September 2020. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "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]
- ^ "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)
