Students from South Ural State University took part in the “Student Sailing League Cup” all-Russian student sailing contest.
The competition brought together 6 strongest student teams from Rostov, Nizhny Novgorod, Saint Petersburg, Moscow and Chelyabinsk, uniting universities in an effort to demonstrate their skills, teamwork and love for sailing.
SUSU students (from experienced masters to those who are just starting their path in professional sports) represented the Chelyabinsk Region with dignity.
“We started training at the end of June, organizing full-fledged classes for students who had never been engaged in sailing. I have been doing this for 12 years now, so I acted as an instructor. The first two weeks were spent on a training course that included theory and practice. First, students listened to lectures, then switched to work on water. We learned to equip the yacht, haul alongside and off the pier by ourselves, and mastered basic manoeuvres. After that, there were training with an instructor who guided the participants how to act in various situations,” said the competition organizer, SUSU student Evgeniia Leonova.
The main goal of the event is to make sailing more popular in Russia, introduce student athletes from different regions to each other, help them improve their athletic skills and find those who will be able to join the national student team in the future.
“This is my very first season, but I already really like to experience the special feeling of wind and water. It is especially great when strong gusts rise: the speed increases and you can control the vessel. It is amazing. At first, of course, it was difficult: it was not easy to immerse myself in all the details. But it was this complexity that fuelled my interest and gave me an additional impetus to move on,” shared her emotions SUSU student Anastasiia Afanasenko.
Each of the sailing beginners found something for themselves: for some it was the excitement of competition, for others it was an opportunity to test themselves and work in a team, and for others it was a way to discover a completely new world.
“My friend invited me to join the team, and I agreed to try my hand at it without hesitation. This sport brings you vivid emotions and impressions: when out on the water it seems as if you are in a completely different world,” noted SUSU student Nikita Shalupov.
The organizers marked the high level of training of all participants, as well as the growing interest in sailing among students.
According to the results of the competition, the 1st place was awarded to the SUSU team “TvoyaPrivilegiya” (Chelyabinsk); the 2nd place to “Derzkaya Shkotorina” team from Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas (Moscow); the 3rd place to Nizhny Novgorod State Technical University (Nizhny Novgorod); the 4th place to ITMO University (Saint Petersburg); the 5th place to “Tikhiy Don” team from Don State Technical University (Rostov-on-Don); and the 6th place to the SUSU team (Chelyabinsk). Our congratulations to the participants, and we wish them further success!
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