Born in the Republic of Moldova’s capital city of Chisinau, Alovatki's immersion with water began at 8 years old. His mother placed him in swimming lessons and a pool environment primarily for the purposes of recreation and for a healthy lifestyle. Of course, swimming was just one of the sports that would capture the attention of a young boy who was also preoccupied with ballroom dancing, badminton, squash, football, karate and boxing.

But something about aquatics took hold of young Pavel. While he was rapidly gaining proficiency at all these different sports, Pavel set his sights on becoming a professional swimmer – and not a professional in any of the other adventures. 

With his focus set on swimming, he aspired to compete at higher levels and travelling to other European countries added kindle to his swimming ambitions. Swimming took him to competitions held in Poland, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece. 

As a 15-year-old, Alovatki raced the 50m backstroke at the 2019 Romanian National Championships and was a part of the boy's 4x100m medley relay that earned a bronze medal. It was there that he first met and raced against another young and promising swimmer named David Popovici who hailed from Bucharest, Romania. 

Although Popovici was a year younger the fact that he was winning a fair number of races made him a role model for the swimmer from Moldova who was improving his form while dropping his times.  

In July 2019, Alovatki was chosen as one of his country's athletes to compete in the European Youth Olympic Festival. He achieved personal best times in the 400m individual medley, 400m freestyle and 200m freestyle at the event held in Baku, Azerbaijan. "I met David at the European Youth Olympics and it's been really cool to see his progress ever since – especially this year as he's now the world record holder in the 100m freestyle."

In March of 2021, Alovatki raced at the Ukrainian National Championships and achieved best times in the 50m and 100m freestyle and in the 200m Individual Medley. With his teammates on the 4 x 100m freestyle and in the Mixed Medley relays the two squads posted the nation's fastest times in those events. He was not able to compete during his final year of high school in the 2022 edition of the Ukrainian National Championships scheduled for last March as they were cancelled due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

Later in 2021, Alovatki made the cut to swim at the 15th FINA World Swimming Championships (25m). The venue in Abu Dhabi (UAE) was a familiar one. 

"I watched many Ultimate Fighting Championship events either on television or online from the Etihad Arena,” Alovatki recalled. “I was swimming in a 25m swimming pool built on the floor of the same arena. I swam the 200m and 400m freestyle events. 

“I swam a really good time in the 400m free, my time of 3:55.5 was my best time at that moment. It's possible that I will receive the Golden Ticket to the Paris 2024 if I am the male athlete with the highest FINA points, but if I can drop my time to 3:47 and achieve the "B" qualification standard I might be invited as a qualified athlete. But I have to admit, that's going to be a real challenge."

The American superstar Caeleb Dressel was the next role model and inspiration for the teenager. Alovatki swam the 200m and 400m freestyle events at the 19th FINA World Championships events this past summer in Budapest, Hungary, though Alovatki and Dressel wouldn’t in the end race in the same events. After winning gold in the 50m butterfly and the 4x100m freestyle relay, the Olympic champion withdrew from the competition early and travelled back stateside. 

Following his upward progression in the sport, Alovatki is a recent recipient of a FINA Scholarship. After seeing firsthand how a fellow Moldovan improved in the sport while training at the FINA Training Center in Kazan in 2018, Alovatki knew he’d like to follow the same path.

"I am grateful to my National Federation president who applied for the 2022 scholarship that I was awarded. I had the option to train at a FINA training program in Florida (USA), but I chose the option that allowed me to stay in Moldova for school and training. I have appreciated the resources available to me to travel outside the country for training camps and serious competitions that would help me progress."

The Moldovan is making sure to progress not only in the pool. An only child, Alovatki is a native Russian and Romanian speaker who has also mastered English with an interest in psychology – and perhaps to live long-term in the United States.

"In August I began my first year of college at Louisiana State University under coach Rick Bishop,” Alovatki said. “I was fortunate to have been accepted by universities but I chose LSU because of academics and also because I knew the team was so good and offered great coaches. 

Alovatki isn’t the only LSU athlete competing at international swimming events like the short course worlds in Melbourne.

“Some of my teammates include Olympians Maggie Mac Neil (Canada) and Brooks Curry (USA). My selection was an easy one because LSU has a beautiful campus too."

"I think I made a quick adjustment to being a college student in the USA,” added Alovatki. “I'm a fan of the LSU football team and also the NFL football club the Cincinnati Bengals where former LSU player Joe Burrow is their quarterback. I also watch the NBA's New Orleans Pelicans in my spare time."

That’s not to say that it's been an entirely straight-line improvement for the teenager.

"I fully admit that racing here has been a bit of a challenge for me. This hasn't been a good meet for me, likely due to the transition from long course to short course yards (during my college season) and short course meters here,” Alovatki said. “I swam a full second slower than my times from one year ago in Abu Dhabi and I may not have been fully prepared for this meet. Perhaps it has to do with the weather or maybe the time difference, but that's something I can work on for the future."