Shavarsh Karapetyan at 72: The Champion Who Sacrificed Everything to Save Lives
On his 72nd birthday, we remember Shavarsh Karapetyan—one of the greatest heroes in world sports, yet still remarkably unknown in Italy. Born in Kirovakan (now Vanadzor), Armenia, on May 19, 1953, his aquatic destiny revealed itself through tragedy: at age 15, during a confrontation with local thugs, he was bound to a boulder and thrown into a lake. He freed himself and surfaced, discovering in that desperate moment that he possessed extraordinary abilities.
From Self-Taught Swimmer to World Champion
What followed was a self-driven transformation into athletic excellence. Throughout the 1960s and '70s, Karapetyan dominated finswimming, amassing 17 world titles, 13 European championships, 7 Soviet championships, and setting 7 world records. Yet his true greatness would be measured not in medals, but in lives saved.
In 1974, he rescued an entire busload of passengers from plunging into a mountain gorge, seizing control of the steering wheel after the vehicle began rolling toward the precipice. But the episode that would forever alter his life—and end his athletic career—occurred on September 16, 1976.
Thirty Dives into Darkness
After completing a grueling 20-kilometer swim training session, Karapetyan was jogging along the shores of Yerevan's artificial reservoir when a trolleybus carrying 92 passengers lost control and plunged into the frigid waters, sinking 10 meters below the surface. Without hesitation, he dove in.
For thirty consecutive dives, he shattered the windows of the submerged vehicle, pulling 20 people to the surface before losing consciousness. The icy water, lacerations from broken glass, and toxic substances in the lake left him in a coma for 45 days, causing pneumonia and sepsis that irreparably damaged his lungs.
At just 23 years old, Shavarsh Karapetyan's extraordinary athletic career was over.
Recognition Long Overdue
Despite his sacrifice, official recognition came only in 1982, when Komsomolskaya Pravda published "The Champion's Underwater Battle," finally revealing his identity to the public. He received over 60,000 letters of gratitude from citizens across the Soviet Union.
Karapetyan's heroism didn't end there. In 1985, he participated in rescuing people trapped in a fire at the Karen Demirchyan Complex, suffering severe burns in the process.
Today, he lives in Moscow, where he founded the shoe brand "Second Breath"—a name that poignantly captures both his near-death experiences and his philosophy of life after sacrifice. In 2014, he carried the Olympic torch from Moscow to Krasnogorsk, declaring: "I carried the torch for Russia and for Armenia."
Shavarsh Karapetyan's story stands as a testament to a truth often forgotten in our age of carefully calculated heroism: that true greatness sometimes demands the surrender of everything we've worked for. The champion who could have dominated his sport for decades chose instead a different kind of immortality—one measured not in records broken, but in lives saved and futures preserved.
As he marks another year, his legacy endures as a reminder that the most profound victories are often those won far from any podium, in the cold darkness where only courage can see.
Carlo Coppola
