Age: 26
Education: National University of Physical Education and Sport
Profession: Swimmer
Did you know? As a child, Zevina dreamed of becoming a pianist.
Born into a family of professional swimmers — Yuriy and Svitlana Zevina — Daryna had a good change to build a brilliant career in sports. And the results were not long in coming.
At the age of 14, Zevina made her debut as a backstroke champion during a European junior swimming championship in Prague, Czech Republic. She won three medals back, two gold and one silver.
“I did not expect that I would swim so good and I got such a euphoria,” says Zevina.
By the age of 26, Zevina collected almost two dozen medals from some of the most prestigious European and world swimming competitions in the backstroke, the athlete’s favorite swimming style.
Among her latest achievements was a silver medal in Glasgow, Scotland’s largest city, during European Championship 2019. Zevina swam 200 meters in 122 seconds.
This year she was ready to conquer the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games. For these games, the athlete returned to training after a one-year break, but it’s been rescheduled to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“The goals remain, although it is not clear now if the competition will take place at all,” says Zevina.
Zevina believes that several factors helped her achieve impressive results in swimming — her height (5 feet 11 inches), long hands and legs, and her “mother’s genes.”
When she was completely exhausted after trainings and competitions, she used to have moments of despair and a desire to give up. But she pulled herself together and kept going.
Every week, Zevina has 11 training sessions on water, 90 minutes each, plus three sessions in the gym.
“It’s hard physical work,” she said. “But it’s satisfying.”
Zevina polishes her skills at swimming pool Yunist (Youth) in Kyiv, one of the most popular pools among athletes. Over the past five years, she has observed an alarming trend: the number of kids willing or able to become the next swimming champion has declined.
“Today’s children have other goals, tasks and priorities,” says Zevina. “Very few are ready to cope with strong physical activities and strive for something big.”
There are too few pools for children across the country, she believes, and some are just not affordable.
She also believes that it’s not helpful that Ukrainians don’t know names of many prominent Ukrainian athletes, including swimmers.
“People only know soccer players, singers, actors. Few people know about our athletes,” said Zevina. “It’s a big problem — nobody popularizes sports.”
As for future plans, she may open her own swimming school and serve as a mentor, not a coach.
“You need to have a special mindset to deal with it (as a true coach),” said Zevina. “You have to be calm and balanced. I am not that kind — I’m very emotional and quick-tempered.”
