Mom who helped son train despite homelessness is cheering for him at the Paris Olympics

A parent's support means a lot to a child, which goes a long way. And it did for a 23-year-old marathon swimmer, Ivan Puskovitch, who competed in the 10-kilometer swim event at the Paris Olympics on Friday, August 9, representing Team USA. Puskovitch began competitive swimming at the age of six and his primary swimming coach till 13 was his mother, Robyn Rabinovitch, reports Good Morning America (GMA).

Puskovitch believes that his participation in the Olympics was a "we" effort and though there were many people involved along the way, his mother has been at the top of that list. He always dreamed of competing in the Olympics, according to the Team USA website. By the age of 10, he had broken the national age group record in a 500-yard freestyle race. As the years passed, he began participating in longer-distance races and received success. 

During his teenage years, he also won junior national titles, both in the pool and open water, and was also in competition in some junior world championships, which led to him getting an offer from the University of South California. However, through it all, it was his mother who was his pillar. Despite facing financial issues, Rabinovitch made sure to send her son to a private school so that he could have good swimming training. "For me, it was worth whatever I was going to have to deal with to make that happen because he was really happy with his swim," she told the outlet.

Things took an unexpected turn in 2017 when the mom woke up without vision in her right eye. The family became homeless because of the financial struggles. Rabinovitch had to decide between feeding her children and paying for her medication and she obviously fed her kids and did whatever else was necessary for them. While talking about those challenging 1.5 years, the son said, "We were just staying in like a mix of cars. And you know, maybe like a family friend's basement...maybe a hotel if we could afford it for a couple of nights." The family did manage to get back on track, but the mom's health issues continued.

In February this year, Puskovitch qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics after he ranked 14th at the World Aquatics Championship in Doha, Qatar. He was in complete disbelief. However, he said, "The predominant emotion I was feeling was an overwhelming sense of gratitude for the journey, what we have all gone through to put me at this point." The mom watched her son on a livestream from home and cried "happy tears."

But this time, when the 23-year-old competed at the Olympics, Rabinovitch's friend started a GoFundMe campaign in April so that she could see her son compete in Paris. The platform raised about $31,730, which will be used for her travel and medical expenses. Puskovitch expressed, "She has certainly sacrificed the most and is the most deserving of being able to see the culmination of all that sacrifice. It's very much my moment, but it's also [her] moment in her own way too," reports the outlet.