The Story Behind My Two Concussions

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The Story Behind My Two Concussions

In recent years the topic of sport-related concussions has been amplified with the increase of research and media coverage, especially in football. People who don’t know synchro don’t think that it’s much of a contact sport, but we all know that it definitely is, and we’ve had our fair share of concussion incidents. I have had two - each one happening during my two Olympic seasons. I do want to shed some light about my experience and hopefully help someone who may find themselves in a similar situation.

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The Two Coaches Who Changed My Life

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In my 17 years as a synchronized swimmer I had the opportunity to work with dozens of coaches, trainers and consultants. All of them contributed to my success in one way or another, but two of them made a significant and profound impact on my career. I think it’s important to recognize the people that helped you achieve your goals and I hope that this post will shed some light on how one or two people can change the course of your life for the better. Coaches are such influential people in an athlete’s life and can either enhance your experience as an athlete, or have an equally significant negative impact. The two coaches I want to tell you about today played a crucial role at different points in my synchro career and I wouldn’t be the person I am today without them.

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Competing for the Red, White and Blue with a Dual Citizenship

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Competing for the Red, White and Blue with a Dual Citizenship

Being a citizen of two countries is not all that uncommon nowadays, but competing in the Olympics with a dual citizenship is still an anomaly. For me, answering the question “where are you from?” was always puzzling because I consider two places my home - the city I was born and raised in (Yaroslavl, Russia) and the city I live in (Walnut Creek, CA). Although I’ve lived in the States for many years, I still have a strong allegiance to my home country of Russia, so my experience competing for the Red, White and Blue was definitely a unique one.

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Hello and Welcome!

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Hello and Welcome!

Hi friends and welcome to the blog! The idea of launching a personal website has been on my mind for a few years, but it wasn’t until last year that I started to think about it more seriously. Initially I had wanted to create a space to compile photos, videos, interviews, etc. from my time as an elite athlete - a sort of athletic “resume”, if you can call it that. Many athletes have their own website, so I thought “hey, I should do that too”.

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