Swimming Through Life
It is 8:30 in the morning. The day for him started long ago as his usual days start at 5 a.m. He is already energized, and ready for the challenges ahead of him. Standing behind the reception desk right next to the front door of the fit ball studio — a low-impact session for relaxing, strengthening, and stretching your body. He welcomes the also so early people, who came to the session, with a bright smile that can wake you up harder than the strongest coffee. “Don’t worry, it won’t be that difficult, just relax and enjoy the stretching,” says the man.
Dimitar Pazvanski is the 24-year-old fit ball coach of the “Elegant” wellness center in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria. As a student who graduated in 2021 with a kinesitherapy bachelor’s degree from the Southwestern University in Blagoevgrad, Mitko, as most of his friends call him, is a professional fit ball instructor, kinesitherapist, and masseur. He is currently working for himself, together with his mother, Stefka Kuzarova, at their own small and cozy center near the town square of Blagoevgrad.
“We have had this place for like 20 years now, but since I needed to move to Sofia where I continued my high school years at the National Sports Academy, my mother was renting it to other people who developed it into a fitness spot,” Mitko shares. “However, when I was in eleventh grade, my mom came back to Blagoevgrad and took over the place turning it into a wellness center for yoga, pilates, and breath techniques.”
Finishing his degree was challenging, especially as his last semesters were highly affected by the pandemic. Going to different exercises, wearing masks all the time, and even entering hospitals and COVID halls, were turning Mitko’s educational process into a dangerous one even for his family.
“The pandemic was definitely not doing us a favor. However, that was the time when I started to proactively search more and more information regarding the topics that interested me the most in kinesitherapy — corrective gymnastics,” Mitko recalls. “In this practice, the fit ball is used as a tool that helps you better your posture and straightens your spine.”
His passion for a healthy lifestyle and intense everyday workout routines have been enrooted as part of his values from an early stage — ever since he was 5 years old. Mitko shares how his father’s love for swimming and his mother’s unwillingness to step into the water at more than a meter depth, were the reasons he was pushed into this sport.
“The story is ironic — I remember I hated going into the water when I was young. One day, when I was 5 years old, my parents just pushed me into the pool. My father always used to say that this was the time when he let me deal with it on my own,” Mitko says. “Ever since then, I fell in love with that sport. I have been training competitively since first grade.”
One way in which Mitko describes swimming is — meditation; another way — is home. He shares that going to the swimming pool and becoming one with the water is what helped him with a lot of stress throughout the years. “One summer, I started coaching swimmers at the local team in Blagoevgrad, “Pirin.” Later on, I had to balance academics, personal, and professional life as I was also working at the center with my mother.” Not to mention that Mitko also specialized to be a professional swimming coach at the National Sports Academy in Sofia after his bachelor’s degree. “I had to travel back and forth. All of this came with a lot of sacrifices — mainly sleep and my social life.”
Mitko’s days now start at around 5 a.m. He goes to the swimming pool in Blagoevgrad, where he teaches his 15-membered team of 10 to 12 graders. His days usually continue at the wellness center where he holds both individual and group practices. Mitko even shares that his responsibilities do not stop there — he is the accountant, the marketing guru, and the hygienist of the place all at once.
“Having something that is your own comes with a lot of care. I am grateful I can be my own employer and gain experience in all areas of a business. Right now, I have ideas regarding various collaborations and initiatives, not only in my hometown but in Sofia as well.”
Even though his day consists of four practices at the fit ball studio, one or sometimes two swimming two-hour coaching, and four massages, Mitko says he does not feel tired.
“I love working with people, especially children. Usually, such individual sports like swimming but also fit ball practices require special attention to each one of the people,” Mitko shares with a smile. “It could be overwhelming at points, for sure, but if I have to be honest, teaching children is my favorite group age range. Children are so pure. They do not come burdened from their 10-hour workday and spread all their energy around. They come and they recharge you, they do not steal from your energy.”
Mitko perceives himself as the friendly coach, and he admits he does not imagine it any other way. Competitions are proof of what one swimming coach should be in the first place — a therapist. “You should know how to listen to them, how to be their parent, their friend, and their supporter. Such competitive environments are always a test for my team, and for every sportsperson in general,” Mitko admits.
“One coach should be a chameleon — contrary to a common belief that coaching is easy, I do not agree. You have 15 children, as in my case, and you should take care of them, of their minds and their bodies. Not to mention, unprofessional coaching can be even dangerous to the sportsperson. The most essential quality a coach should possess is, undoubtedly, a strong psyche.”
As a former swimmer himself, and as a professional kinesitherapist today, Mitko believes that sports are more than all the medals, fit physics, and resilience. Discipline and good manners — a positive and honorable attitude to life. “I think sports are the military barracks that we lack nowadays. Having a healthy lifestyle does not end with a healthy diet or a strict workout routine — it starts and ends with a healthy mind. I am happy to see that more and more young people do sports,” Mitko shares.
“The only thing I wished was that swimming was as big as football and tennis in Bulgaria. It has the potential, judging by the future generations that are coming and the Bulgarian swimming representatives we have at world competitions.”
One thing is a fact — at 5 a.m., somewhere in Blagoevgrad, a 24-year-old kinesitherapist and a swimming coach, is waking up to make someone’s life at least a little bit better. Swimming through life with an open mind and heart is what Mitko beams even at the earliest hours of the day or through the toughest, most stressful periods of his life — “because life keeps going and gets us ready for the new challenges ahead of us,” as Mitko shares.
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Martina Stoyanova is a senior double majoring in Business Administration| Journalism and Mass Communication at the American University in Bulgaria. As a former swimmer herself, she has interest in healthy lifestyle and sports. An interview between two people with shared interests, values and points of view.
