Hi everyone! My name is Kate. I was born in a small town in Moldova I’ve been swimming since hood. To be honest, I don’t even remember a life without water. I started feeling severe pain in my knees. At first, it was just during training, and then even while walking. I brushed it off as fatigue. I hoped the pain would go away. But soon it became clear that these were early signs of patellofemoral pain syndrome. Swimming—and everything that had defined my life—began to slip away from me. I went through rehabilitation therapy, hoping to recover. Physically, I began to feel better, but the path to professional sports was closed to me forever. It felt like I had lost a part of myself. Now, I’m a college student studying psychology. I want to help people through difficult ents in their lives, because I’ve had to fall and get back up many times myself. I understand how hard it can be to find the strength to keep going. Because of everything I’ve gone through, I’ve also become very independent. I don’t want to rely on anyone anymore—not even my parents. They didn’t support my desire to live on my own, wanted to control me forever, and so we no longer speak. In a way, I’ve lost the closest people in my life. I love deep conversations, beautiful sunsets, detective stories, and strong, courageous people who know they’ll achieve their goals no matter what. I still love going to the water—to a lake or a swimming pool. Not to swim. Just to feel the water on my skin.