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 "IN THE COLOUR OF A BLUE HOPE”
text by: Katarzyna Ombach
Kasia Mielczarek has been disabled for 13 years. Before the accident, she attended a sports school and trained swimming at the club Polonia Warsaw. After the fateful head-first jump in May of 1991, she spent many years confined to her home. Today her passion is diving. A trip to Egypt in 2002 was a breakthrough in her life. She regained her self-confidence and decided to return to competitive swimming. Currently, she trains seven times a week. She prepares for the Paralympic Games in Athens.
 In the summer of 2002, Kasia went to the course's second portion, held on Croatia's Hvar Island. Those courses are conducted in the HSA (Handicapped Scuba Association) system. The first portion is consists of swimming pool activities and the second one is held in open waters. Participants who fulfill strictly defined requirements receive the title of Open Water Diver, which permits them to dive down to a depth of 18 meters. The program itself is very similar to the analogous one in the PADI system. The basic difference is that when awarding the OWD HSA degree, the instructor specifies the so-called level (A, B or C), which defines the degree of self-sufficiency and the ability to assist a partner in an emergency situation.
"After a very tiring, 30-hour journey, I've reached a beautiful land on the warmer side of the sun. My greatest dream of that period has come true. For the first time in my life I could admire in its entire splendor the restless water stretching somewhere very, very far. Its infinity arouses in a person some undefined challenge, anxiety, but above all, humility.
The first dive.. I won't hide the fact that the water temperature has disappointed me, but the sensation is incomparable to anything - one simply must experience it. Of course pool activities differ greatly from diving in the sea, although exercises are the same (blowing through of the mask, breathing with a partner etc.). Diving into the waters of the Adriatic Sea, I suddenly forgot about the fear. A human being under water is totally removed from ordinary problems, which overwhelm and limit us every day. It's in the infinity of the water's depths that one can feel like a free being.
After three days of activities near the shore, it was time for the first dive off a boat. Another surprise, another enchantment. In the place where we dove, the water was about 9 meters deep. Thanks to diffused rays of the sun penetrating the water's surface, I felt like I was in a fairytale garden. The fact that I couldn't go deeper was downright cruel. In such place, the desire for more, longer and deeper is particularly strong."
 However, a diving course for the disabled isn't always a fairytale. The biggest problem is to correctly prepare the boat and the base, which is particularly difficult in the rocky environment of Croatia. Additionally, putting on and taking off the equipment is always very time-consuming. Sometimes it takes longer than the diving itself, that's why during the course in open waters there is only one dive every day.
"On the surface additional complications appeared, which were absent during the camp in Spała. Taking off the diving suit was the worst. Because my hands have very little dexterity, I wasn't able to put the suit on or take it off by myself. The instructors very patiently and with a great dedication helped me with this unpleasant task. Agnieszka and Joanna - the girls who conducted the course - were simply indispensable. We keep in close touch to this day."
Kasia has successfully completed the course, although due to her physical limitations, she received the C level, which means that she must always dive accompanied by two divers, one of whom should be an HSA instructor. Several months later, participants of the Hvar camp met at a diving event in Jaworzno. This was so far her only dive in Poland. Despite the cold water, she considers that trip exceptional, because that's where her life's greatest adventure has begun.
"We sat at a campfire heating sausages, reminiscing of Hvar, when suddenly the conversation turned to the subject of group of disabled persons going on a trip to Egypt. The list of participants had already been finalized. I thought 'they have it so good'. Next day I returned to a gray Warsaw. After a few days I received Nautica's new catalog, which described the aforementioned trip to Egypt. 'That would be a beautiful gift for my 30th birthday' - I thought spontaneously."
On November 13th 2002 from Warsaw's Okęcie Airport the first group of disabled people set out on a trip to Egypt. Kasia was one of the participants. The organizers agreed to let her join the group at the last minute and her friends financed the journey. Thanks to that, she experienced the most beautiful week of her life so far.
"It is really difficult to say what has made the greatest impression on me, for each day was unique and exceptional. It was a fascinating underwater world of fabulously colorful gardens with schools of rainbow fish swimming through coral labyrinths. The view is so tempting that one wants to belong to that magical land and eyes struggle to encompass the richness of that world. I froze motionless to watch a giant moray feeding on plankton; a great feeling was to see a napoleon swimming within a hand's reach and a beautiful stingray passing right underneath me. What I had experienced surpassed my dreams and expectations. It was some kind of a miracle. However, today I think that diving is a worth in itself, regardless of whether I'm underwater in a pool, the Adriatic Sea or the Red Sea."
 Right after returning from Egypt, Kasia decided to go back to competitive swimming. She began very intensive training under supervision of a coach from the club "Start". Currently she trains in a swimming pool daily, sometimes twice a day. During one training session she swims 1000-1500 meters. Preparations and getting dressed after a training session take longer than the swimming itself. There's always someone from her family or a friend to help. Extremely intensive and strenuous training began to bear fruit very quickly. Her successes to date include Polish Championship on the distances of 50, 100 and 200 meters freestyle, 50 meters backstroke, 50 meters breaststroke and 150 meters medley. In June of 2003 at an international competition held in Berlin, she won a bronze medal and the time she achieved on the distance of 50 meters freestyle gave her sixth place in the world ranking. During the European Cup competition held in Brno in August of 2003, she set new Polish records.
"What has diving given me? Only good things. There's nothing certain in life. My body isn't always able to fulfill my desires. However, in the underwater world I have no limitations, which gives me the feeling of joy from anything I'm able to do myself. It is one of the few activities that don't require me to use a wheelchair. Thanks to diving I have discovered the abilities of my own body, expanded my circle of friends and visited some of world's most beautiful places. Although my life is still difficult and sometimes painful, I'm trying to live it to the fullest. I started to believe that dreams can come true. Diving is my passion, but above all, it has become a bridge between disability and a return to ability. Diving is in the colour of a blue hope."
Kasia has received a place on the Disabled Swimmers' National Team. Currently she intensively prepares for the Paralympic Games in Athens, which will be held in September of 2004.
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