Ukraine's Yakhno bonds with Canada's artistic swim team after invasion of her country

Lyza Yakhno went from standing on the Olympic podium for Ukraine to standing poolside for Canada at the Pan American Games.

She'd just retired from artistic swimming after Ukraine's team bronze in Tokyo's Olympics when Russia invaded her country Feb. 24, 2022.

Yakhno contemplated starting her own swim apparel business before rockets fell on Kharkiv where she lived, 30 kilometres from the Russian border.

"They attacked, like, every day 100 rockets on the city, on the people," Yakhno said Tuesday in Santiago, Chile. "One day I was in my apartment with my boyfriend, my mom and his friends and the rocket came in 20 metres beside my apartment.

"The building and the floor were shaking. At that time, I was praying 'God, please give me life. I don't want to die right now.' It was very scary. I lost all my hair in two months because this is so stressful."

It wasn't the first time armed conflict forced Yakhno to move. She says her family left her hometown of Donetsk in 2014 because of Russia's annexation of Crimea.

After fleeing to Lviv in western Ukraine last year, Yakhno received an unexpected invitation from Canada Artistic Swimming to work with athletes at a training camp in Budapest, Hungary.

She said she was in survival mode then. Coaching wasn't on her mind.

Canada Artistic Swimming's initial motivation was to help a Ukrainian in the sport's community.

"We were all very happy to feel like we were doing something, but we were pleased that she fit in with the coaching staff so well and worked with all of us so well," chief sport officer Kerri Morgan said. "She was an instant fit."

Another invitation to help Canada's team before and during the 2022 world championship in Budapest was extended. Yakhno was then encouraged to