Mom who was once homeless with son gets to watch him compete at Paris Olympics
A woman and her son who were once homeless have made it to the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she will be rooting for him as he competes in the 10-kilometer marathon swim event this week, representing Team USA.
"It was a 'we' effort … there's so many people involved [along] the way, and she's at the front of that freaking list," 23-year-old marathon swimmer Ivan Puskovitch told "Good Morning America" of having his mom Robyn Rabinovitch's support throughout his journey to the Olympics.
The mother and son's story went viral after family members started an online crowdfunding campaign to help fund Rabinovitch's trip to Paris to see her son compete in the event on Aug. 9.
"I think she deserves to see the race," Puskovitch said. "[She] is the most deserving of being able to see the culmination of all that sacrifice."
Overcoming challenges to reach the Olympics
Puskovitch always excelled in school and in the pool, according to his mother, who was his primary swimming coach until he turned 13.
By age 7, he had swum a 500-yard freestyle race, and by age of 10, he had broken the national age group record in the event, according to his Team USA profile.
Despite the family facing financial challenges, Rabinovitch said she sent Puskovitch to a private school to support his swimming training after he began to make a name for himself among kids his age.
"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 said.
In 2017, when Puskovitch was in high school, Rabinovitch said she woke up without vision in her right eye, and the financial fallout left the family homeless.
"My life just kind of imploded that summer," she recalled, sharing that there was a point that she had to make choices between feeding her kids and paying for her medication.
"Of course, I was going to feed my kids. Whatever I needed to do for them," she added.
Puskovitch said the situation "put us on a pretty tough [path for the] next year and a half."
"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," he said.
The family eventually managed to get back on track, but Rabinovitch's health issues persisted.
Persevering to the finish line
Despite the setbacks, Puskovitch said he found continued success in his teenage years, winning multiple junior titles both in pool and open water and received an offer to attend the University of Southern California.
In February this year, Puskovitch qualified for the 2024 Olympics for Team USA by scoring 14th place at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar.
When it was announced he had made the team, Puskovitch said his first reaction "was denial."
"I was like, 'There's no way,'" he said. "This is one of those goals where, no matter how long you visualize it … you're never going to be fully prepared to comprehend achieving it."
"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," he added.
Rabinovitch, who was watching on a livestream from home, said she was overjoyed and cried "happy tears."
Things got even more surreal when Rabinovitch's friend started a GoFundMe page in April to raise funds to help pay for Rabinovitch's travel to watch her son compete in Paris.
The page has since raised over $29,000. According to the GoFundMe page, the funds will be used to pay for the trip and also go toward covering Rabinovitch's ongoing medical expenses.
"I can't believe so many people have banded together to try to make sure that I'm going to be able to be there to see my son in the Olympics, living out his dream," Rabinovitch said, noting her appreciation and gratitude.
Added Puskovitch, "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."
Puskovitch will compete in the men's 10-kilometer marathon swim event in Paris on Friday, Aug. 9.
