Ukraine lacks swimming pools, federation says
Kyiv, October 24 (Interfax-Ukraine) – Ukrainian Swimming Federation Vice President Andiy Vlaskov has said the lack of swimming pools in the country resulted in the failure of the national swimming team at the Beijing Olympics.
"Ukraine has problems with swimming [pools] – athletes have no facilities for effective training, and the younger generation cannot take up swimming," he said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Friday.
According to Vlaskov, of 467 swimming pools in Ukraine, only 132 can receive visitors, as municipal authorities are not allocating proper funding.
"The reconstruction of the bases for the Olympic preparations in swimming has yet to be completed. This concerns the Aquarena center in Kharkiv, Meteor swimming pool in Dnipropetrovsk. The 50-meter swimming pool at the Artek international children's center in Crimea needs an overhaul too. It is also necessary to create a national base for the Ukrainian Olympic team," he said.
NOC President Serhiy Bubka said in turn that outstanding Ukrainian swimmers had decided to leave the sport, while there were no proper facilities to bring up new Olympic champions.
"Yana Klochkova and Denis Silantyev have decided to leave the big sport, while there are virtually no facilities to train new champions. We lack sport complexes with swimming pools, especially in the regions. In such conditions Ukraine cannot discover potential champions," Bubka said.
Family, Youth, and Sports Minister Yuriy Pavlenko proposed in his turn to develop the swimming pool at the Artek children's center into a base for the national team.
"We are planning to consider the question at a ministry staff meeting on October 30. The meeting will concern state sports policies," he said.