The destruction of the Kakhovka dam deals another blow to Ukraine’s sailing schools, ravaged by Russian bombing, occupation and an exodus of children, although first steps are being taken in the west of the country to revive the youth sport, once vibrant.
“To those who live down the river from Kherson: we ask you to notify us if you see our boats, yachts and ships stranded anywhere on the shore,” is the message that can be read on the Facebook page of the Kherson Sports School.
The boats had previously been hidden on the islands of the Dnieper River when the Russian authorities tried to take control of the school, Olga Kravchenko explained to Efe.
The flooding caused by the press disaster means that now most of the ships are lost forever.
More than 200 young athletes, ranging in age from 6 to 23, used to train at the school, Kravchenko said.
Hundreds of young sailors trained and competed in coastal cities like Kherson, Mykolaiv, Mariupol and Odessa, as well as Dnipro and kyiv, before Russia invaded the country more than fifteen months ago.
Some of the bases, such as in the Kharkov region and in Mikolaiv, have been damaged or destroyed. Some others are still busy. In almost all places where you could train or compete before, you are now too close to danger.
One consequence of them is that most athletes and coaches have not been able to continue with what they liked to do.
Minors are distributed throughout Ukraine and abroad. The most their coaches can do is give them theoretical classes online and encourage them to stay in shape, Kravchenko said.
However, those who have been practicing this sport for a long time refuse to give up.
Angelina Kalincheva, a member of the well-known Mikolaiv sailing dynasty, recently interrupted her mandatory break in Lviv and drove 1,100 kilometers to that city to get two boats for her students.
His daughter, Alisa Sannikona, 13, and niece Anna Kalincheva, 11, members of the Ukrainian national team before the invasion, have been unable to train for more than 15 months.
The Ukrainian sailing championship, which was held on Lake Sirka, near the border with Poland, between June 1 and 10, has been the only opportunity they have had to get into the water for the first time since it began. the Russian invasion.
“They loved it! This tournament is not about results. It was very important for the girls, who are growing non-stop, to adjust their technique,” Kalincheva explained to Efe.
The competition attracted 65 participants, most of them minors, which is less than 20% of the number that normally attend such an event.
“At the 2020 Mikolaiv championship there were a hundred athletes competing in the ‘optimist’ class alone. This time there were only 19 in that category,” Kalincheva acknowledged.
Despite the relative lack of experience and infrastructure in the region, the tournament was a success, said the head of the Lviv Sailing Federation, Myron Humenetskyi.
Other training camps and tournaments are planned and he expects the number of participants to increase.
Kalincheva, who plans to return to Mikolaiv with her family, hopes that they will soon be able to train again on a lake far from Russian troops in the Odessa region, once they obtain the corresponding permits from the Army.
The most popular sailing locations along the coast will likely be off-limits to sportsmen for years due to the danger posed by mines or unexploded ordnance, Humenetskyi says.
The organizers are determined to do whatever it takes to keep the sport alive.
“This war is also about a mental fight, a fight for our future,” the tournament’s co-organizer, Oksana Novikova, told Efe, who had to flee Crimea, occupied by Russia in 2014.
Ukrainians cannot pause their lives because the war can last for years. Even in such difficult circumstances they have to create opportunities for minors to develop in their own country, Novikova confesses.
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