Yesterday
Valeria Garashchenko: “It all started with the pope”
We bring to your attention a great interview with Valeria Garashchenko, who, recall, became the owner of the title “Yachtsman of the Year” at the end of 2019, and not so long ago received the title of master of sports of international class.
– It's no secret, Lera, that you are from a sports family …
– Yes. Dad started kiting in 2000. He was at that moment one of the first in the Urals. And soon I was born. From childhood I watched my dad’s hobby and at 10 years old I tried windsurfing, two years later I mastered winter kite, and another six months later a year-old.
– You just looked at dad – and you wanted to try? Or dad motivated you, insisted that you need to do?
“Dad was hoping I wanted it myself.” And this happened, because I saw kites every day and at the age of 11 I was already consciously waiting for the moment when I would start training. This happened in January 2013.
– Your older brother was already actively engaged in kiting by that time …
– He is 7 years older than me, and started skating at 9. By the time I was ripe for kiting, he already had some sporting achievements.
– It turns out that his brother began to practice almost simultaneously with his dad?
– A little bit later. Dad in 2000, brother in 2004.
– Who trained you when you took your first steps?
“My father always taught me.” Led me. And Artem has always been psychological support for me (he is a sports psychologist by education) – he always cheers up before the competition.
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– You go to the start both in summer and in winter. Which element do you like more – water or ice?
– The last one and a half – two years, I really combine summer and winter. Of course, it’s not easy, but I like the constant change of conditions.
In fact, it just seems that the kite is in your hands – and it doesn’t matter whether you ride on ice or water. In reality, everything is different, everywhere there is a different technique, different sensations, a different sense of equipment. And, to be honest, I still can’t say exactly what I like best.
– That is, you can’t say: "I am leaving snowkiting and will focus on water."
– Probably, I can say this: summer kiting is a priority, and I will devote more time to it than winter. But I will not completely refuse winter.
– At what point did you realize that you would be a professional athlete?
– In fact, such a moment has not yet come.
– That is, while there is no realization that you are a professional?
– Maybe yes. The thing, apparently, is that all these years my development has been gradual and measured, without any race. First, dad quietly led me for 7 years in winter kiting, there were Russian competitions, then international ones. Then there was a transition to summer professional kiting, which also went very smoothly and imperceptibly. I always knew that I would go into the summer – and there everything would go slowly again. Another thing is that now I am a master of sports of international class. And it already looks like a professional sport.
I take my business very seriously, I consider kiting as my life. But still until the end I do not recognize myself as a professional.
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– What does the title mean to you – a master of sports of international class?
– I relate to this quite easily. In any case, this title is not a heavy burden for me. The fact is that I do not put victory above all else. Although, of course, victory is what I strive for and work on.
– What is primary for you – sport as such or a reward?
– Now I have something like a transitional moment. Before, I always aspired to victories. It was important to always be the first. But this year I realized that not only the result in itself is important, but also the path to this result, the process. I like to kite and be on the water every day, feel the water, the wind. Feel the equipment. When something turns out on the water, it is such a joy!
– Do you plan to combine your sports career with studies?
– Just now I am solving this issue. Where do I go – in the correspondence department or full-time? In any case, I will try to combine sport and study, but more, of course, I will hit sport. In the next 4 years – for sure.
– Where do you want to go?
– In Lesgaft at the Faculty of Sports.
– Do you see yourself as a coach in the future?
– Yes. I think yes.
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– At Krestovsky Island School, you have been training with Alexei Chibizov for a little over a year. How did you find each other?
– It's all dad. Alexei with Denis Taradin at that time for four years already trained in Spain. Everyone knew that they were professionals. When it became clear that kiting would become an Olympic discipline and the realization that it was necessary to switch to water came, dad decided to give me a command to Alexei.
“Do you like working with him?”
– Highly. It seems to me that Alexei and I worked very cool together.
– Is kite a job for you? Do you treat water access as an obligation?
– I always rejoice when I go out to the water. I think about the technique all the time – on water, after water, before going to bed. This whole process has become an integral part of my life. And I perceive him joyfully, like a child.
– What is the maximum speed you developed?
– 33.3 knots (17 meters per second).
– It's very fast. Wasn’t it scary?
– I like.
– There is no feeling that any sloppy movement – and the shark is right there?
– It seems to me that in a boat at such a speed it is even worse. I watch yachts go along the waves, and from my point of view it looks scary.
– At high-speed overloads, is there a feeling that the sail will rip out of your hands, the board will fly out from under your feet …
– Seldom. This can be, if you go into a strong, ragged wind with a small sail. And plus to this, for example, high waves.
– Is kiting an extreme sport? Or it’s relatively safe, and the extreme is in getting adrenaline from speed.
– This is an extreme sport. Kiting started with freestyle. There are jumps, various tricks, there is also a railing there as a separate discipline. Of course, initially everything was very extreme. Over time, this sport developed, it was the race that joined sailing. In races there is a certain extreme, but it is associated with the speed that you develop.
– You do racing. Tricks do not master?
– Not. But when I just started skating and practicing on small freestyle boards, I got jumps. Later, a purposeful training process had already begun, when it was necessary to separately devote time to the hydro-foil and to the races. There wasn’t much time for freestyle. And I decided to go to the race.
– What do you expect from 2020?
– In fact, most of the kiting competitions are at the end of the year. In this case, for the period after the Olympics. This year I really want to spend more time on the water and slightly change my opinion on the training process.
– Kiting is becoming an Olympic kind. Is there a goal to get to the 2024 Olympics?
– Before this Olympics there is still a whole Olympic cycle, and everything can change and change a lot. But, of course, I want to become a participant in the Games. And not just a member. I hope everything goes well.
Maria Tsarfina,
PR department of the Krestovsky Ostrov Olympic School of Olympic Sailing Reserve
208 Yesterday # 10002
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