From the starting block to a shared mission

Team varvis® welcomes Paralympic champion Elena Semechin

From left to right: Dr. Yvonne Kasmann (Head of Marketing & Sales at Limbus), Elena Semechin and Dr. Ben Liesfeld

Some collaborations begin with a clear plan. Others start with a moment of reflection: when a story highlights a broader issue and invites action.

This was the case when our CEO, Dr. Ben Liesfeld, read an interview with the German Paralympic swimming champion Elena Semechin in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. In the interview, Elena described challenges that professional athletes in Germany most likely encounter when deciding to start a family: limited institutional support, uncertainty around funding, and the risk of losing sponsorships at a crucial point in their careers.

For Ben, the topic went beyond a general societal debate and prompted a closer look at what role our company could play.

When lanes cross

Ben decided to get in touch with Elena. What followed was an open and constructive exchange about values, perspectives, and the decision to support her with a sponsorship.

As the manufacturer of the varvis® software, we work closely with topics that extend far beyond technology. Complex diagnoses are part of the context in which our users operate every day to support patients and their families on their oftentimes difficult journeys.

Elena’s personal journey connects naturally with this environment. She lives with cone-rod dystrophy, a rare genetic condition that causes severe visual impairment that began when she was only a child. Notably, Elena emphasises that it was her diagnosis that led her to meet the people who guided her into professional sport.

In 2021, shortly after winning Paralympic gold in Tokyo, she was diagnosed with a brain tumor and underwent surgery and chemotherapy. During her 13 months of chemo, she had already started training again. She later returned to competitive sport — and went on to win another Paralympic gold medal.

Beyond the medal count

Elena Semechin is one of Germany’s most successful Paralympic swimmers. At the same time, she is a thoughtful and articulate voice on topics that are often underrepresented in elite sport.

She speaks openly about living with a rare disease, about cancer survival, and about balancing high-performance sport with personal life and family planning. By addressing these topics with clarity and realism, she contributes to a more differentiated and inclusive discussion around professional athletics.

Not only this perspective but also her incredible resilience and strength of will make her an inspiring role model for athletes, for people working in scientific and medical fields, for everyone.

A first lap together: Göttingen, January 15, 2026

Elena, Ben and Yvonne at the varvis® User Group Meeting on January 15, 2026 in Göttingen

The cooperation took its first public step at the varvis® User Group Meeting on January 15, 2026, in Göttingen.

We were pleased to welcome Elena Semechin as a keynote speaker, where she addressed our user community of scientists, laboratory professionals, and experts in human genetics. Her keynote connected personal experience with broader themes such as resilience, motivation, and the impact of medical progress.

It was a strong reminder of the purpose behind our work: Every dataset, every analysis, and every software update ultimately supports real people and real medical decisions.

Meeting in person confirmed the positive impression that had already emerged during earlier conversations. It marked a promising start to our cooperation and a moment we look back on with great appreciation.

Swimming the next length together

This cooperation is designed as a long-term partnership built on shared values and mutual respect.

We believe that companies in the life sciences can contribute not only through technology, but also by supporting meaningful conversations and individuals whose experiences reflect the relevance of scientific progress.

We look forward to what lies ahead and we’re grateful to walk this path together with Elena Semechin.

About Elena Semechin

Elena Semechin, née Krawzow, was born on October 26, 1993, in a small village in southern Kazakhstan (Nowowoskresenowka Merke). In 2004, she moved to Germany with her family via Russia as part of a family reunification program. Since 2015, she has been living and training in Berlin under her coach Phillip Semechin as part of the Berlin swimming team at the Olympic Training Center. Today, she is a Paralympic champion in the 100m breaststroke, a multiple World and European Champion, as well as a motivational speaker, ambassador, and model.

After qualifying as a state-certified physiotherapist, Elena moved from Bavaria to Berlin. With access to optimal training conditions, her rapid rise to the very top of the international elite soon followed. Shortly after her greatest triumph — the Paralympic gold medal at the Tokyo Games — she received the unexpected diagnosis of a brain tumor (diffuse astrocytoma). From the very beginning, she was determined to fight the incurable cancer while continuing to perform at the highest athletic level.

After completing 13 months of chemotherapy, she fully committed herself to the new season leading up to the 2023 World Championships in Manchester. Following an extremely demanding preparation, she successfully reclaimed her world title in the 100m breaststroke. Step by step, she is now fighting her way back toward the world record she set in 2019. Her next major goal was the Paralympic Games in Paris 2024 — and once again, she made it to the top of the podium. Her greatest personal happiness followed in 2025: the birth of her son, Klaus Phillip. After her maternity leave, Elena is back in the pool in 2026. Her ultimate goal: the 2028 Paralympic Games in Los Angeles. Elena wants to prove that even as a young mother, she can still compete at the very top level in competitive swimming.

semechin.com

About the varvis® software

The varvis® software is your complete solution for clinical diagnostics, combining NGS data processing, genomics data management, and variant interpretation in one seamless platform. Designed to streamline every step of the sequencing workflow, the software varvis® supports both short- and long-read technologies, enabling comprehensive genomic analysis from targeted panels to whole-genome sequencing. With automated analysis of SNVs, CNVs, STRs, and SVs, the software varvis® delivers robust performance, scalability, and accuracy across all panel sizes. It also serves as an integrated variant database for efficient knowledge management and full traceability. Now fully integrated with AION, the varvis® software brings AI-powered variant interpretation directly into your workflow. AION identifies and prioritizes disease-relevant variants, delivering a ranked shortlist and detailed report, and thus enabling faster, more confident diagnostics. As the first end-to-end genomics software certified as Class C under IVDR, the varvis® software sets the standard for clinical-grade performance and compliance.

varvis.com