CAPTAIN | 10
HAYDAMAKY
BEYOND ALL
FROM OLD TRADITIONS TO NEW VICTORIES
As a sea nation, Ukrainians were good seafarers for centuries. Sailing down the Dnipro river from ancient Kyiv to the Black Sea and further was a regular practice long before the Middle Ages. The emergence of sailing as a leisure and sports activity can be traced to the XIX century, with the first yacht clubs popping up in central and southern Ukraine along with shipbuilding industry development.
In the XX century, Ukrainian sailors achieved fantastic results in Olympic sailing as members of the USSR team. This culminated in a phenomenal performance of Ukrainian-born Valentin Mankin (1938-2014). He won three Olympic gold and one silver medal in three yacht classes (Finn, Tempest, and Star) – a record that no one has managed to beat.
Also, Ukrainians are participants of the Whitbread Round the World Race as members of the famous Fazisi campaign (USSR, 1989-1990) and later, under the Ukrainian flag with two yachts in the 1993-94 season.
The 1991-2004 period was very successful for the Ukrainian national sailing team. In the 470 class, Ukrainians won gold in Atlanta by Braslavets/Matvienko male crew and two bronze medals (Atlanta and Sydney) by the crew of Taran/Pacholchik. In the 2004 Athens Olympics, Ruslana Taran went on to win silver in the Yngling class. Also, in 2004 Ukrainian crew Luka/Leonchuk took silver in the 49er class.
The generations gap started to affect the Ukrainian Olympic performance during that period. While seasoned crews continued to perform well on the international scene in classes like Soling, Star, and Dragon, the lack of trained young sailors made it impossible to achieve excellent results in the Olympics.
Therefore, youth development became the focus of the national sailing authority. It took more than 10 years to achieve the first decent results in Optimist and Cadet classes. But the process went on culminating recently in several world championship titles in Cadet and a world team racing championship silver medal for the Ukrainian team.
Statistics
THE COUNTRY
- -
ACHIEVEMENTS
- 1 Olympic gold medal
- 2 Olympic silver medals
- 2 Olympic bronze medals
Ssl ranking
- Year's best ranked woman:
- Year's best ranked man:
- Year Nation's best ranking
MAIN EVENTS
- -
The captain
Rodion Luka
During his career, the captain of SSL Team Ukraine has come a long way, from youth classes to steering yachts on the Volvo Ocean Race. Among his achievements are medals from the Olympic Games and gold at the World and European Championships, in the Olympic class. In total, he climbed the world championships podium seven times in different classes of monotypes. A true leader, with experience and high performance in four Olympic Games, will certainly lead the team to the top of the SSL Nations Gold Cup.
THE LEADERS
Ihor Matvienko:
Atlanta 1996 Olympic champion in the 470 class, then represented Ukraine in the Sydney and Athens Games as well. Founder of MIR Yacht Club in his home city of Dnipro, he devotes the most of his time popularizing sailing among young and adult. Head of regional sailing authority.
George Leonchuk
Three times Olympian and Athens 2004 silver medalist in the 49er class. Two times Dragon Class Gold Cup winner and multiple European championships’ medalist.
Boris Shvets:
Multiple National Champion in the 470 class and worldwide top SB20 helm and tactician. Represented Ukraine in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
THE YOUTH FACTOR
As the young sailors’ development has become a priority for the Ukrainian sailing federation, every opportunity is taken to gain more experience in different classes and competition levels. The SSL Team Ukraine is no exception, with half of the team comprised of young sailors. There are young guns such as Odesa-raised ILCA6 world championship bronze medalist Oscar Madonich, Vadim Okladnikov from Mariupol, Georgii Paches from Odesa (both ILCA7 sailors) to name a few.
Confirmed Athletes
Potential Team Position
|
1
BOW
Andrii Klochko
|
2
MID-BOW
|
|
3
PIT
Andrii Husenko
|
4
GRINDER
Valerii Kudriashov /Vitalli Kushnir
|
|
5
TRIMMER
Ihor Matviienko
|
6
TRIMMER
Denis Osliak
|
|
7
MAIN TRIMMER
Georgiy Paches
|
8
HELM
Borys Shvets
|
|
9
TACTICIAN
Oscar Madonich
|
10
CAPTAIN
Rodion Luka
|
|
11
FLOATER
Ivan Pavlusyk
|
|
1
BOW
Andrii Klochko
|
|
2
MID-BOW
|
|
3
PIT
Andrii Husenko
|
|
4
GRINDER
Valerii Kudriashov /Vitalli Kushnir
|
|
5
TRIMMER
Ihor Matviienko
|
|
6
TRIMMER
Denis Osliak
|
|
7
MAIN TRIMMER
Georgiy Paches
|
|
8
HELM
Borys Shvets
|
|
9
TACTICIAN
Oscar Madonich
|
|
10
CAPTAIN
Rodion Luka
|
|
11
FLOATER
Ivan Pavlusyk
|
SQUAD
| Rodion Luka | Ruslana Taran |
| George Leonchuk | Georgiy Paches |
| Oscar Madonich | Ihor Matviienko |
| Yvan Zhukalin | Borys Shvets |
| Valerii Kudriashov | Stanislav Mulko |
| Andrii Klochko | Andrii Husenko |
| Denis Osliak | Vitalli Kushnir |
| Ivan Pavlusyk |