Rowers Impacted by the war in Ukraine

Words: Tom Ransley

On 24 February 2022 President Vladimir Putin ordered the Russian military to invade Ukraine. The consequences of the ongoing war are far-reaching, and the international rowing community has not escaped them. Five days after the invasion, World Rowing paralleled the International Olympic Committee by confirming that it will not allow the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials in any of its international competitions. Row360 hears from Ukrainian and Belarusian athletes and coaches.

The Russian Rowing Federation did not respond to our request for comment.

Ivan Dovogodko (UKR)

“It is a crazy situation. We didn't expect it. Our plans, our dreams, our thoughts; all crushed. And you don't know what to do. Today I was thinking, what can I do? How can I help? How can I take my place in this war?”

Two-time Olympian Ivan Dovogodko, 33, is a Ukrainian national team sculler, who previously held the men’s quadruple scull world best time and won world and European gold medals.

In February he arrived in Köyceğiz, Turkey, for a three-week training camp and three months later he is still there. “Tomorrow 1we were meant to go home,” says Dovogodko. “It seems we will stay here for a long time.” The camp has 25 athletes and ten coaches.

“We have no professional skills in fighting but somehow we can help.”

The morning after Putin’s invasion Dovogodko woke up and discovered the news via Telegram [a messaging app]. Reading about the “bombing and attacking” of his homeland, was terrible.

The team did not know what to do, and many wanted to return and “fight for our independence” and “help our people to stay strong”.

“We have no professional skills in fighting but somehow we can help,” says Dovogodko. “Our head coach and the leader of our national federation decid- ed that we must stay here and continue our professional activities. That's why we are training on the water every day.” There was a suggestion that “the war would be over in one month” and “peaceful days” might prevail.

At first Dovogodko’s coach suggested they stay “until the end of April" but now the team will be on camp 2“until after the second World Cup... perhaps until the summer”. It is an unexpected situation. Despite good water conditions and warm weather, it is a difficult situation. Team members are understandably worried about events back home.

“A lot of wives and family of the national team members are at home, and they are very worried about them. There is a lot of stress. A lot of thoughts.”

Dovogodko says many of the team come from Dnipro, Kherson, and the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv, which are all centres of rowing in Ukraine.

Dovogodko’s wife and sister are both national team members – respectively Rio 2016 Olympian Yevheniia Dovogodko, and London 2012 Olympic champion Nataliya Dovogodko. They are relieved to be together, but Nataliya’s husband is still at home in Dnipro, Ukraine. Dnipro is a central-eastern city that, according to the BBC, has been the target of Russian air strikes.

Dovogodko’s parents are former Soviet Union rowers – his father Viktor participated in the men’s quadruple scull at the 1979 World Rowing Championships in Bled, and his mother, Valentine, was part of the USSR junior team. Even before the current conflict, Dovogodko says relations with the Russian Rowing Federation are “not so good” and the history of Ukrainian rowing has “a lot of painful pages”.

“Ukraine wants to have its freedom. Always.” His parents were both in favour of a “Ukrainian republic” and were discriminated against during national rowing selection. “When the USSR national team were selected, they were in second place – every time. In first place were Russian rowers... my dad stayed home because Moscow rowers must be in the team.”

His parents live in Kyiv – ahotspot in the conflict, and a focus for the Russians during the early stages of the campaign. They decided not to flee the capital.“Every day they go out on to the streets and demonstrate. They demonstrate to say that they are Ukrainians.” Dovogodko spoke to his parents during the siege. “There is fighting and bombing every day. Kyiv is surrounded. The Russians want to, and try to, enter the city but they cannot.”

Dovogodko has relatives from Moscow and his father called them to ask what was going on? “They are like zombies, they don't hear us,” says Dovogodko, “They hear only propaganda from Russian TV. It is very difficult for them to take in another source”.

Pre-conflict Ivan used to speak with Russian rowers but since the invasion all communication was “blocked”. Friendships had existed between the Ukrainian and Russian athletes but now the Russian athletes “stay back from us and don’t speak with us,” he says, “they don’t contact us, and have closed every social messenger”.

Dovogodko wants “the world to know about this situation” and for foreign citizens to “call their leaders to close the sky... We can stop soldiers, but we cannot stop the bombs,” says Dovogodko.

“Putin needs to be stopped”.

Olena Buryak (UKR)

“I didn’t go to training camp because I only had a month of training. Now, I’m happy that I didn’t go because I can protect my family, and I don’t worry about them every minute. Are they safe? Are they alive? I am happy because they are with me.”