Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: State University Higher School of Economics – State University Higher School of Economics –
Photo from Nikita Zhuravlev’s personal archive
The first university rafting teams (men’s and women’s) appeared at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, and a graduate of the program became their coach.Media communications” Faculty of Creative Industries, President of the Moscow Rafting Federation and founder of the rowing club “Akademiya” Nikita Zhuravlev. This season, the team will have six important starts in the amateur league. The coach told “Vyshka.Glavnoe” why this can be considered a unique event.
For a wide range of people
— We are holding the first amateur rafting competitions in Russia under the auspices of the federation. Until now, during the 25 years of the existence of the Rafting Federation, competitions were held exclusively in the sports variation. These are technically complex competitions with many disciplines and a high entry threshold. People who are currently involved in rafting are students of sports schools or Olympic schools who have dedicated their entire lives to this sport. Despite the fact that the federation has existed and developed for a long time, there is a very small influx of new people here. It is difficult to master a raft on rough water, and in the competition format it becomes almost impossible.
We have completely rewritten the rules of sport rafting, adapted them for people who are not involved in sports. Now we want to attract university teams, as well as participants in the Moscow government project “Moscow Longevity” – older people who have never encountered rowing or active sports in their lives. They have the opportunity to touch our favorite business and compete with each other on equal terms.
Unique competition venues
— We will hold all stages of the amateur rafting league at the facilities of the Moscow Sports Committee, the Ministry of Sports, including the Olympic rowing facilities, which are not accessible just like that. For example, on May 24, we held competitions at the Olympic rowing canal, which took 10 years to build, was put into operation only last year and is still a facility exclusively for training and performances of the Russian Olympic teams. We received the unique right to be the first to represent our sport on the rowing canal, after us the facility will be put into full operation for amateur, professional, sports and commercial rafting.
Contribution to the development of sports
— At the moment, I am the president of the Moscow Rafting Federation and the founder of the rowing club “Academy”. I have been working towards the position of president of the federation for a long time, without even knowing it. And I got it due to my investments in professional sports, performances in the professional arena as a member of the Russian national team and due to social activities – creating conditions and infrastructure for sports. Now my club “Academy” has five branches, and in each of the branches we have created infrastructure opportunities for people to come and do rafting without buying their own equipment, without investing in any special preparation processes, trips, logistics, and so on. That is, we have given people the opportunity to do sports due to the fact that the water areas are currently fully prepared, we have written down all the regulations, formed a coaching staff and a methodological basis for training.
Rafting for students
— The first stage of the amateur league was attended by teams from top universities — the Higher School of Economics, RUDN, Bauman University, MGIMO. In the near future, we will organize a separate student amateur league. This is an opportunity to show the results of the university’s activities in comparison with other universities, its achievements and how the university cares for its students, what support it provides them.
At the moment, I am a coach and trustee of the Higher School of Economics rafting team. I have maintained a fairly strong connection with the university, I am grateful to it for the education I received, for its contribution to my development as an individual, as a professional in my field. And I am very close to the attitude of the university, when you are perceived not only as a labor unit, but also as an individual. Therefore, when I had the opportunity to provide support, my choice fell on the student team. In this status, I myself was a member of the Russian national team. And in this status, I looked for sponsorship support, went to organizations, various enterprises. I know from experience how important it is for students to be accompanied by a mentor, to have someone senior, especially if he himself comes to them and offers various options for self-improvement, development, development. And all this is stretched by the red thread of our love for the university.
HSE Team
— The HSE team is made up of activists from the XSPORT sports club. Before meeting and interacting with me, the guys had been developing various volunteer activities, organizing sports events at the HSE, mass sports events both at the university’s venues and in the city environment.
At the moment, the team is actively participating in the amateur rafting league. This is a cycle of five stages, which are combined into a general team standings. That is, the team wins the league based on the results of its performances at each of the five stages. During preparation for the league, the participants practice the technical features of raft control, we develop their general physical fitness, teach water safety, rowing techniques, biomechanics, sports physiology and carry out psychological training of rowers. Thus, this year the HSE team will have six official starts, held by the Moscow Rafting Federation. These are five stages of the amateur rafting league and the Moscow championship. If the team is selected for the capital team, we will take them to the Russian championship.
Workout
— Our training takes place at the bases of my rowing club, Academy. I conduct regular training for two Vyshka teams — women’s and men’s, 12 athletes. We work with them every Tuesday and Thursday from May 1, regardless of weather conditions, air and water temperature. We prepare with them to participate in the amateur league. And our main goal is the successful preparation of the team to compete in the Moscow Championship. If successful, the athletes will receive a title, ranks, and will be selected for our Moscow team. And this will be the first student crew, entirely formed from students of one university, which, I hope, will represent the interests of our city in the framework of official competitions under the Ministry of Sports.
Why You Should Try Rafting
— Rafting is a sport that combines several areas. It is an exclusively sports component, a competitive element. It is a journey, local history, because most of the rafting stages take place in the autonomous regions of our country, in mountainous areas, in places that are impossible to get to on purpose. Most often, these are glaciers, Altai, Karelia, the Caucasus. Areas that are sparsely populated, and it is very difficult to learn about them from any popular sources.
In addition, people learn to work together. This is interaction, mutual support, motivation, sport through the prism of pleasure, when people come not only to row, but also to actively socialize.
About plans for the future
— My plan as the president of the Rafting Federation is to make this sport accessible, organize a full-fledged student league, a corporate league, combine student sports with professional sports, create a bridge between these two concepts and smoothly integrate people who have sincerely fallen in love with rowing with all their hearts into high-performance sports. If we talk about specific steps, this is filling our calendar with large, significant events, not just competitions, but sports festivals.
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