Penza, 26 April 2021. PenzaNews. Swimming coach Elena Demina will be awarded the Order of Merit to Penza Region, First Class, for rescuing children in the Volna swimming pool of the children’s and youth sports school in the Nizhnelomovsky area. This was announced by acting governor Oleg Melnichenko.

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“If it hadn't been for Elena Vasilyevna Demina, the coach who was training the children, we would have had fatalities. We are grateful to Elena Vasilyevna Demina for her timely reaction and taking the children out of the pool,” he said at a meeting in the regional government on Monday, April 26.

Oleg Melnichenko instructed that the materials for the regional award be prepared as soon as possible.

“In fact, she saved the lives of 21 children,” he stressed.

The acting governor also suggested that Elena Demina be presented with a state award.