Six months after the end of chemo
Semechin crowns a special story with World Cup gold
8/3/2023, 7:31 p.m
A long period of suffering lies behind Elena Semechin. After a brain tumor and chemo, the para-swimmer fights her way back into the water. Although she had an anxiety attack in the training camp, she is in top form at the World Championships – and is now winning gold in the 100 meters breaststroke.
Para-swimmer Elena Semechin has been crowned world champion just six months after her last cycle of chemotherapy. The 29-year-old won the 100 m breaststroke in 1:13.13 minutes and swam within 42 hundredths of a second of her 2019 world record for the SB12 start class (1:12.71). The Berliner, who was born with the visual impairment Morbus Stargardt, distanced the second-placed Maria Carolina Gomes Santiago from Brazil by 1.74 seconds.
“I was hoping to be even faster, but of course I’m still satisfied,” said Semechin: “It’s a great relief that I’ve become world champion again.”
Semechin, Tokyo Paralympic champion, won her third World Championship title in Manchester on her parade route, thereby conquering another German starting place for the Paralympics in Paris. After having a brain tumor removed in November 2021, the visually impaired swimmer completed her 13th and final cycle of chemotherapy in February. Between two cycles, she had already finished second at the World Championships in Madeira last year.
However, she recently had an anxiety attack at the final World Cup training camp in Spain. “There was nothing more to do. I was in an unstable condition. That was the first concern, the fear that I could have cancer again. It’s an up and down,” said Semechin. Nevertheless, she presented herself in top form at the World Cup.