17 TIMES SWIMMING WORLD CHAMPION LOST HIS CAREER WHEN AN UNEXPECTED EPISODE CHANGED HIS LIFE FOREVER

 

What made us the way we are? What were the choices that we made that led us here? These questions are hard and not easy to answer but, this story here would surely tell why this guy made such a decision that made him the most popular. He wasn’t positive about the step he was about to take but still, one thing led to another and the hero was born. If you have watched superheroes movies you might have seen that our favorite superheroes struggle a lot to reach a certain stage before they are considered as heroes among the community. Though this story isn’t about a superhero a normal human being who became a national hero in a most unexpected way. You’ll be surprised to see how it all began…

Champion Was Born

Shavarsh Karapetyan was born on May 19, 1953, in Kirovakan (now called Vanadzor), Armenia. Kirovakan is the third largest country in Armenia then part of Soviet Union. In 1964, his family moved to Yerevan where he finished his eight years of schooling and later shifted to a technical school where he learned about auto-mechanics. But then something happened in his life that shifted his life’s direction towards swimming which turned out to be the most fruitful decision in his life. But who would have thought that in future things would take a steep turn that would change everybody’s lives?

Legend On The Field

Shavarsh Karapetyan, one of the most celebrated and respected swimming athletes in the world. But he has a very exciting story to tell the world. In his swimming career, he was able to break 11 world records and won the world championship 17 times! But Shavarsh himself has a very interesting story behind all his success. It wasn’t like he woke up one day and realized he would pursue his career in swimming. There was a very compelling reason behind why he chose it.

A National Hero

Shavarsh Karapetyan is known as the most prominent and talented athletes of his generation but do you think of he wouldn’t have been a great swimmer, he would be able to inspire the way he does today? What was the reason? He used his talent when it was needed the most. What did he do back then that made his life story worth sharing and viral?

An Armenian Swimmer

When he was born in 1953, Armenia was still a part of Soviet Union. There are people who discover their talent by themselves but in Shavarsh case it was one of his family members who made him realize that he has a body type of being a professional swimmer and it would do him good he would choose that path. But there was some confusion in his mind as all teenagers have. Teenage is the most confusing period of our lives. We are in constant battle with our minds and life. There was only one question would he be really successful?

Difficult Decision

After one of Shavarsh’s family members commented about his body type which he thought would be suitable for swimming, he was under a lot of pressure. Being a teenager he couldn’t make up his mind. He thought what harm it could do him if he tried his hands in swimming? He was right there was no harm in trying as he soon realized that he was made for swimming.

Ready To Dive In

After he was ready to try his hands in swimming he looked around for the institution who taught swimming nearby. Choosing the institution wasn’t difficult as there were not many who taught swimming even when Soviet and United States were competing each other in every Olympics to tell the world who owns everything. But he was lucky as his institution saw the talent inside of him.

A Star

After joining the classes Shavarsh started enjoying his time in the pool. The trainer in the institution noticed this new guy who was taking his first step in the waters. Shavasrh kept staring the pool before he made the decision to touch the waters that would change his life forever. This story isn’t about his great achievements but what happened when he used his talent to serve another purpose that made him the hero. 

Chosen One

The trainer at the institution saw the capability and talent inside Shavarsh. The teacher was more than happy to help him out in his new endeavor. With the help of his teacher, Shavasrh was inside the pool only to realize that this was his life now. This water would make him different from others. But there was a lot of work which was needed to be done before turning an amateur into a champion.

Training To Be The Best

Just because you have a built up that could be suitable for swimming doesn’t mean you become one. There is a lot of hard work and training that goes with it which tests your patience and will power. Shavarsh who knew nothing about swimming followed every command of his teacher. He trusted his teacher who knew the potential Shavarsh had inside him.

Hard Work Pays Off

After long hours of training inside the pool, Shavarsh was ready. He had the confidence to take on any competitor of his and win. In one these events, where Shavasrsh was also participating changed the course of his life forever. After winning the competition he was satisfied with his performance and the audience could see that there is another champion in town now. Something amazing happened after his win.

We Noticed You

Shavarsh won one of the competitions and the win changed his life. He was unaware that on that same day people from the Soviet Union National Team were also present there. They saw his performance and were really happy with his performance. They decided to take him under its wing and now it was Shavarsh chance to prove to them that they made the right choice. And he did prove it in an awesome way.

Right Choice?

The Soviet Union National Team noticed his potential just like Shavarsh’s swimming trainer. After watching him swim that day they knew that he has something special inside him and which could benefit both the national team and the country in the coming years. After his selection in the Soviet Union National Team, Shavarsh was able to break 11 world records and won the world championship 17 times, amazing right? But as we said the story isn’t about the achievements but about that episode that made him a national hero.

Finswimming

There is another branch of swimming called as finswimming. Shavarsh found his talent in this branch of swimming and he was right. He competed in this category and won world championship 17 times. He broke the world record 11 times in the same category. If you don’t know what finswimming is then you should know that the only thing which is common between regular swimming and finswimming is the waters.

Different From Swimming

Finswimming is a specific swimming event where the participants swim almost under the surface of the swimming pool. To ease the process they are allowed to use a snorkel and large flipper that turns them into a mermaid-athletes. With the help of fin, they are able to propel through the water. The athletes use four types of techniques in finswimming that divides finswimming into four categories.

Types Of Fin-Swimming

The four types that define finswimming are Surface swimming, Bi-Fins swimming, Apnoea swimming, and Immersion swimming. They all are different as in Surface swimming the swimmers wear a mask, snorkel, and monofins and stay at the surface of the water. In bi-Fins Swimming, the swimmer also stays at the bottom of the surface but use a mask, snorkel, and a pair of fins. The other two are…

Other Two Types

In Apnoea Finswimming, where it involves the swimmers holding their breath underwater and us a mask and mono-fin. This type is very difficult and requires extra hard work and training to be successful. Then comes the Immersion swimming similar to Apnoea Finswimming where they also use a mask and mono-fin with a breathing apparatus. But what was that episode that changed Shavarsh’s life forever?

After His Peak

We all know that athletes have a very small span of a career in which they try to achieve as much possible. Even Shavarsh was struggling as he was getting older. He was at its peak of his career between 1965-1975 but after that period was over his career started to go upside down. Everybody thought his career is far from over but that’s not entirely true. You’ll see why?

Far From Over?

Shavarsh career was not going the way it should be because of the old age. An athlete has a very short career and Shavarsh was proving that. Unlike in his prime where he used to qualify for every competition but now he was struggling to qualify even once. In the year 1976, the Soviet Union National Team noticed the same downfall in him and decided to leave him out of the team. His fame almost ended but something happened and he was the champion again.

Determined To Rise Above This

Shavarsh wasn’t ready to accept the fact that 17-time world champion era has ended. The thought wasn’t giving him any satisfaction and as they say, age is just a number, Sarvarsh proved it right. In late 1976, he traveled to Yerevan (Armenia’s capital). There he started training in the lake where he did 12 mile runs round to gain his lost strength. One day, while he was busy with his training he noticed something in the lake. What was that? The episode changed his life forever.

An Accident

He was doing his usual 12 miles around training in the lake when he saw a trolleybus that has fallen off the road. The bus was slowly going inside the frozen lake when he noticed that there are people inside struggling for their lives. Shavarsh was surprised to see the bystanders who kept staring at the drowning bus and not one of them was ready to help. He knew the emergency services might take a long time to reach, he decided to act!

The Bus Was Sinking

Shavarsh watched the bus drown slowly inside the waters and without thinking twice he jumped to help them. Not caring about his life he was inside the frozen lake because he knew that only he could help them before the emergency service arrived at the scene. He told the people not to enter the lake as it would be risky and he jumped when he thought the time was right

The Water Was Dirty

Not only the water was freezing but was muddy too. Shavarsh was struggling to locate the bus as he couldn’t see anything because of the mud. Relied on his sole instinct he spotted the drowning bus. He smashed the window of the bus and took one of the passengers out of it. One after another he brought all the passengers out. Did you know how many he saved that day?

Rescued 20 People

The first passenger he rescued was unconscious and it took Shavarsh a while to bring him out of the lake as he had to carry him outside. Fortunately, the emergency service didn’t take long and arrived on the scene. They saw this man going in and coming out of the water in a loop trying to save the passengers. His left leg was severely hurt by the glass of the window which tried smashing with his leg. But that cut didn’t stop him even for a second. He kept going in and rescued 20 passengers.

Gave Them New Life

What would have happened if that day Shavarsh decided not to train? Things would have been different and these 20 people whom he gave the second life wouldn’t have seen the next sunrise. It is the discipline that makes an athlete a champion. Their constant urge to beat themselves to bring out the best in them saved those people from the mishappening.

Didn’t Take Credit

After rescuing those people from the drowning bus there was no news about it. Shavarsh didn’t care about the publicity and was happy that he could help the people in need with his talent he was gifted with. He took his time to recover from the incident and was eagerly waiting to resume his training. But destiny had some other plans for him. He wasn’t getting better…

He Wasn’t Getting Better

But why wasn’t he recovering? The doctor found out that while his heroic attempt saved those people that day, his lungs paid the cost. It seemed like he bargained his health for their lives. Because of the subzero temperatures of the water and the blood loss, it weakened his immune system. The contaminated lake water gave him lung sepsis. The situation wasn’t looking good for Shavarsh which was really risky for his life.

He Retired

The episode was now a month old and Shavarsh was back in the pool training. Looking at the mirror he could tell that the episode has changed him. In the end, he retired and started his new life. Now he was the coach looking for the same talent like him in the crowd of hundreds of children. It was his turn to give something back to the community. Though he couldn’t continue his training still he never regrets the decision of saving so many lives that day. He said he would do it again!

A Newspaper Wrote About Him

The incident was in the past now and didn’t get any publicity of which Shavarsh had no desire in the first place. He didn’t save all those people for publicity. But a local newspaper heard about the heroic actions of Shavarsh from one of the local and they decided to do a piece about the story. The story was out and people read about an ex-swimmer who risked his life to save 20 people. The medals started to pour in for his deed.

His Own Asteroid

Because the Soviet Government didn’t acknowledge his efforts, it was local officials and people who took the charge to honor his actions. An Armenian astronomer, who read the story in the newspaper was determined to honor his efforts. He did the most amazing thing when he renamed an asteroid he had found in Shavarsh’s honor.

A Great Man

Shavarsh who was being showered with affection, publicity, and appreciation from everywhere didn’t let it go over his head. “A man can find himself somewhere people need his help. I am not an exception,” said Shavarsh in an interview. A former star athlete and a heroic rescuer finally got what he deserved.

Another Incident

It seemed like Shavarsh was sent on this planet to save people. A few years later he was involved in another incident where he risked his life again. He was there at that very moment when a family was struggling for their lives. Nowhere to run they waited for a miracle and it was Shavarsh who came as their savior. The bravery Shavarsh showed on both the occasions has proved that a human can achieve anything if he has courage like him.

Once A Hero, Always A Hero

As we told you that Shavarsh was involved in another episode where he saved people who were captured inside a burning house. He was driving and saw this house on fire. He stopped his car, running towards the house he looked for something to break the house main door. When there was nothing to help him he kicked the door and went inside where he saw several people sitting in the corner. Without wasting any time he started rescuing them showing then the way out from the house.

A National Sensation

It was in the year 2014 that showed him that people still care and respect him. They haven’t forgotten about the heroic deeds he showed the world on the two occasions. They still see him as a champion of waters and hero in real life. In the 2014 Olympic, he was the one who carried the Olympic Torch which began the Winter Olympics of Sochi.

He Runs A Company

Nowadays Shavarsh is settled in Moscow. Living his life in peace and running a successful shoe manufacturing business named as  “Second Breath.” He left his swimming career and focused on the next stage of his life. he doesn’t regret his decision of leaving swimming behind and he is still humble when people talk about his heroic actions. But it’s the medals that speak for him.

An Inspirational Story

Indeed this story is something worth reading as it shows a man’s life from every angle. He was in his prime when he was left with nothing. Determined he moved to another city to follow his dreams where he met something else and one thing led to another he was the start again. With his good actions, he has managed to inspire so many lives that we can’t thank him enough. We wish there are more people like him and the aspiring athletes should read about him and his whole life.