The competitors stand by the swimming pool, ready for the race- 200 meters, butterfly style. Among them is the representative of Poland- Otylia Jędrzejczak. There is also the favorite of the race- an Australian swimmer- Petria Thomas. They jump into the water and swim. Petria is the leader of the race up to the middle of the distance. After 100 meters, Otylia overtakes her. She is getting faster and faster. Yes, Otylia wins the race. The supporter shouts "Otylia won!!!". She is tired, but very happy.
Otylia Jędrzejczak comes from Ruda Śląska. She was born on 13th December, 1983. She learned how to swim, when she was 6. Her parents wanted her to attend classes at the swimming pool, because her spine was slightly curved. When she reminds herself her first steps in water, she says: "I learned swimming quickly. At the beginning it was insignificant, but later I drew in it and I completed next group of initiation." Apart from swimming, Otylia took also dancing and fencing lessons, but she decided to dedicate herself to swimming only. At the very beginning of her trainings, she used to hide in changing rooms, and would not want to go out, as she was afraid that she might drown.
Otylia achieved her first success in swimming after two years of training- at the age of eight, at the competitions organized in Germany she won the firs of her cups. The really hard trainings started, when Otylia Jędrzejczak went to secondary school in Cracow- Szkoła Mistrzostwa Sportowego. She was sixteen, when she won two gold medals in Moscow, at the European Championship for Juniors. After one year, in Stambuł, Otylia won brown medal. When she was 18, in Helsinki she earned silver and gold medals. On the Olympic Games in Sydney, in 2000, Otylia was a member of the national team. She swam 100 meters, butterfly style, and was the fifth. It was a great disappointment for her. She knew that people believed she could win. However, she was successful in the competitions in Berlin, Fukuoka, Moscow, Antwerp and many other places.
On 4th of August, 2002, in Berlin, Otylia Jędrzejczak broke the world record on the distance of 200 meters, butterfly style. Her new record was 2:05:81. Otylia says that it was the most important day in her life. After that, in Barcelona she won gold and silver and in Madrid- gold and bronze.
August 2004 was an extremely important month for Otylia. The Olympic Games in Athens were very successful for our swimmer. In one hour, Otylia had to take part in two races- 100 meters, free style and 100 meters, butterfly. She surprised everyone winning two silver medals. The most important race for her was 200 meters, butterfly. All Poles sat in front of their TVs and watched that race. We stopped breathing for these few minutes. Otylia was swimming very fast, but up to 150th meter she was the second one. She overtook Petria Thomas and won the race. She was really happy. Polish people were mad with joy. Otylia is the best sportswoman in Poland. She said that she wanted to give her gold medal from Athens for auction and give the money to sick children. Otylia broke 13 records in swimming.
Otylia says that for her success is based on faith. Her family supports her, gives her love, confidence and understanding. She loves visiting her family. Her mother cooks her favorite dishes anytime she comes home. Otylia has a boyfriend- Maciej Drzewiński. They were going to get married after Otylia finishes her studies. Swimming is the most important thing in her life. It makes her relaxed and gives her energy.
Unfortunately, a terrible accident happened to Otylia last year. She loved driving a car and was proud of her new car for a short period of time. She was driving with her brother. She drove very fast and had an accident. She drove into the tree with great speed. Her brother died in that accident. Otylia was injured, but her body is already fine. It is much worse with her psyche. She said that she wants to come back to swimming. But she is very depressed. It is certainly going to be very difficult for her to start to live normally. Her fans believe that she will be successful in swimming again. Swimming might also help her go through all the sorrows and difficulties. I hope she will not lose her faith and strong character.
