Rio 2016 Paralympics. Story One: I Had A Desire To Live And I Started To Swim

What You Need To Know:

✅ On August 7th, the Paralympic Games begin in Rio;
✅ 172 athletes, 17 more than last year, will represent Ukraine. This is because the Russian Paralympic team was banned from participating;
✅ Anton Kol’ is a 26-year-old Paralympic swimmer who has won a number of silver and bronze medals in European and World Championships.

Anton Kol’ is one of the Paralympic athletes who will represent Ukraine at the Rio Paralympic Games. He is 26-years-old and has already won a number of silver and bronze medals in European and World Championships in Montreal, the Netherlands, Glasgow, and Madeira.

"I understood that swimming is totally my type of sport. I never missed an opportunity to practice learning how to swim, like when we went to the river, for instance," he says.

Anton is an orphan; his mother abandoned him at birth. He lived at a maternity home until the age of 4 and then he was transferred to an orphanage. It was exactly there where he learnt how to swim.

"I tried to swim, but by their facial expressions I understood that I wasn’t an up-and-coming athlete. After that, I became enthusiastic about swimming. A strong desire appeared," he smiles.

Hromadske launches a special project about Ukrainian Paralympic athletes in order to tell their personal stories. Hromadske spoke to Anton Kol’ about his childhood, how he struggled in professional sports and much more.