Sport and Poetry on Lake Inkit – Parakanoe Team
The reserved lake and the special atmosphere of the boarding house – this is why the parakanoe team loves winter training! And when the soul rejoices, the most sincere poems are born. Watch the VIDEO from Canoeport!
We train by the sea
Kayaking and canoeing.
And let it be so far
Olympic light,
Our motto is unbeatable:
Louder sing, Russian anthem!
Since 2010, when parakanoe finally became the official sport, rowers look to the future with great enthusiasm. It was then that representatives of 28 countries from 5 continents arrived at the World Cup in Poznan. Meanwhile, 24 countries were enough to include parakanoes in the Games program.
Since 2011, the rowers began to train in the Moscow Region, St. Petersburg, Krasnodar and Ivanovo. In September 2012, the first official Russian Championship was held on the Krylatskoye canal.
In 2014, the team successfully traveled to Hungary and won the World Cup. In addition, members of the national team took first place in the European Championship in Germany. At the World Cup home rowers won six bronze and one silver medal. Thus, they showed the best result for all the time of performance at international competitions.
This year, athletes are waiting for new tests. Canoeists from the Russian team will take part in the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, which will be held in the summer of 2016.
Lake Inkit – a place of winter fees
Our parakanologists for the fourth year have been training in the winter training camp in Abkhazia, near the town of Gagra. There, on the picturesque cape there is a relict lake Inkit. It is flush with the sea and is the largest of the eight lakes of the Pitsunda peninsula. Rowers love this place very much and consider it a guarantee of their success.
The lake is small: 1.2 km long, 500 m wide, its area is less than a square kilometer. The maximum depth is five meters, basically no more than three.
Curious legends are connected with the lake. For example, it is believed that in the IV. BC e. it served as the harbor of the ancient city of Pitius, where the ships of the great commander Alexander the Great stood. According to another legend, earlier on the site of the lake there was an ancient temple, which flooded when the coast of Inkit descended.
Achilles Mavrofidi
“The wounds of the fighters heal faster when the Army wins!”
Pitsunda Peninsula was chosen for winter training is not accidental. This place is well known to Akhilles Sokratovich Mavrofidi, who heads the Parakanoe Committee from the first day of its foundation – December 2, 2010. Akhilles Sokratovich lived in Sukhumi for 19 years, he knows everything about Abkhazia and the local climate, therefore he brought athletes to Lake Inkit.
This wonderful person has an unusual story. “Up to 8 years I did not go. And it was sport that helped me become who I am, ”he says.
Akhilles Sokratovich – a prominent figure in the Paralympic sport: USSR master of sports in rowing and canoeing, participant in the 2010 World Championships in Poznan, deputy general director of the Union of Disabled People of Russia. He has vast experience, and in the future – a lot of important projects and good deeds.
Pension where Musa lives
Between the lake Inkit, a park area and the sea coast, on the territory of the Pitsundo-Musser reserve there is a complex of buildings. This is the boarding house “Litfond”, in which our rowers live during winter gatherings. The place is very beautiful. Rare trees grow in the reserve: boxwood, magnolia, noble laurel, eucalyptus, acacia, pomegranates, hydrangeas, palm trees, and, of course, Pitsunda pine.
In Soviet times, there was the All-Union House of Writers. D. Gulia is a popular place for recreation and creativity of famous poets and writers of the USSR. In various years, M. Bulgakov, B. Akhmadulina, E. Yevtushenko, R. Rozhdestvensky, F. Iskander, A. Voznesensky, the Weiner brothers and other talented personalities stayed at the boarding house.
Imagine what kind of atmosphere prevails in the “Litfund” – peace and quiet! Muza has long been living here, who often visits to the inhabitants of the boarding house and whispers poems … In short lines one can guess the lightness of inspiration and true love – to sport and life.
To my pupils and all the combers!
Well, what do these girls want?
They grew b slowly, like everyone else …
Would change dolls outfits,
Flowers collected in the dew.
Would learn lessons at home
Would go to the cinema more often.
Now comes the intense
Paddle – oh, how hard it is!
Corns on hard palms,
Kayaks are entering the canal
Where does the track lead in sports?
“To Olympus,” – so the coach said.
And let the perfection limit
No one can reach,
See how bold and bold
In their hands the oar is spinning!
About sport
After there will be tears and flowers
Trainer and Mom Kisses –
In the meantime, monotonous: you
You will work out the program.
To make every gesture sure
You will repeat the same thing …
Coaching, sensitive hand
So the sculptor’s hand looks like!
Your coach is used to patience,
He is always serious and stubborn.
You are still a draft
Future work – ingenious!